"Not far away." Baba sniffed the air. "I can smell them. I smell rain too."
"Then we'd better find shelter. C'mon. Maybe we better take a path over to the right, away from the tank trail," Johnny suggested. "The leopardess went the other way."
Baba nodded.
They trudged on and took the first animal trail to the right. Baba went slightly ahead, crying "Friend-pets, bother us not!" over and over again. It was almost a chorus now. Most of the time Baba clicked it, but when he got tired Johnny took over for a while. They never ceased repeating the magical words.
Once an antelope walked by their sides a few yards off, but he soon bounded away. Shortly afterward Johnny thought he saw a large black shadow moving in the deep brush.
They walked steadily and found nothing but brush land. Then, not a hundred yards from them, a river shone through the deepening twilight. The shine of the water stopped them. They had proved they could control some of the animals, possibly even the leopards and rhinosaurs. But, if a river snake struck without warning as the monkeys had done, it would be the end of Johnny.
While Johnny stood where he was, Baba went forward, chanting the cry of "Bother us not" as he went. When he returned he looked worried.