“There must be something about your head that attracts queer animals,” Tom teased his pal.
“Guess I’d better get a new one!” Bud grinned.
The evening meal had been eaten before the pangolin consented to uncurl itself.
The little
64 REPELATRON SKYWAY
creature had a pointed snout, a long tail, and a scaleless white underbody. After some coaxing by Creel, it began to lap up a mixture of chopped meat and raw egg with its wormlike tongue that flicked in and out at lightning speed.
“Our first zoo specimen!” Creel gloated.
“It’s all yours!” Bud grumbled.
That night Tom awoke with a start, his ears ringing with a fearsome noise. The stillness was shattered again by a series of terrifying howls and barks-ending in a shrill peal of insane laughter.
“Good grief! Then I wasn’t just dreaming!”
Bud joined him as he pulled aside the insect netting and stepped out of their tent.
Another peal of crazy laughter sent chills coursing down their spines.
“What in the world is it?” Bud murmured in awe.
“Nothing to fear-only hyenas,” Akomo said. He stirred the campfire. As it blazed up, the boys saw the creatures’ eyes glinting from the bush.
Chow, who had just poked his head out of his tent, chuckled in relief. “Brand my nightshirt, I thought it was Buddy boy pullin’ another joke!”
Late the next morning, as the party was trekking onward, Creel drew his companions’ attention with an excited cry. They looked just in time to see a turkeylike bird scuttle off among the underbrush. Its head, Tom had noticed, was crowned with a tuft of white feathers.