But a more merciful plan was adopted. Kaloomah evidently expected death, but when Roland himself cut his bonds and pointed to the west, the savage gave just one wild whoop and yell, and next moment he had disappeared in the forest.
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Were I beginning a story instead of ending one, I should not be able to resist the temptation to describe that voyage down the beautiful Madeira.
It must suffice to say that it was all one long and happy picnic.
Just one grief, however, had been Peggy's at the start. Poor Dixie, the pony, must be left behind.
She kissed his forehead as she bade him good-bye, and her face was wet with tears as she turned her back to her favourite.
Roland did what he could to comfort her.
"Dixie will soon be as happy as any horse can be," he said. "He will find companions, and will live a long, long time in the wilds of this beautiful land. So you must not grieve."
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There are times when people in this world are so inexpressibly happy that they cannot wish evil to happen even to their greatest enemies. They feel that they would like every creature, every being on earth, to be happy also.