“No. A large golden fly flew out of the flowers, so I turned around toward it, and then I saw the beast just as it was creeping out from the ravine.”
“And what happened next?”
“It stood still and began to look at me.”
“Did it look at you long?”
“Long! It was only when I dropped the flowers and covered my face with my hands to protect myself that it began to creep up——”
Stasch knew that if Nell had been a negress she would have been carried off at once, and that she owed her deliverance to the surprise of the animal, which was disconcerted for a moment on the first sight of a creature so different from the people he had seen.
Again the boy shivered from head to foot.
“Thank heaven! Thank heaven that I turned back!”
Then he inquired further:
“What were you thinking of at that moment?”