He was wakened suddenly by a noise he had never heard before. “Perhaps it was only a nightmare，” said Shasta to himself. At the same moment he noticed that the cat had gone from his back， and he wished it hadn‘t. But he lay quite still without even opening his eyes because he felt sure he would be more frightened if he sat up and looked round at the Tombs and the loneliness： just as you or I might lie still with the clothes over our heads. But then the noise came again.a harsh， piercing cry from behind him out of the desert. Then of course he had to open his eyes and sit up.
The moon was shining brightly. The Tombs.far bigger and nearer than he had thought they would be.looked grey in the moonlight. In fact， they looked horribly like huge people， draped in grey robes that covered their heads and faces. They were not at all nice things to have near you when spending a night alone in a strange place. But the noise had come from the opposite side， from the desert. Shasta had to turn his back on the Tombs （he didn’t like that much） and stare out across the level sand. The wild cry rang out again.