Maya saw the tears come to his eyes, and her heart was seized with pity.
But the next instant Bobbie stirred. He wiped the tears away and crept cautiously behind a small mound of earth, which his friend had probably shoveled out of her dwelling. A little flesh-colored earthworm was coming along through the grass. It had the queerest way of propelling itself, by first making itself long and thin, then short and thick. Its cylinder of a body consisted of nothing but delicate rings that pushed and groped forward noiselessly.
Suddenly, startling Maya, Bobbie made one step out of his hiding-place, caught hold of the worm, bit it in two, and began calmly to eat the one half, heedless of its desperate wriggling or the wriggling of the other half in the grass. It was a tiny little worm.
“Patience,” said Bobbie, “it will soon be over.”
But while he chewed, his thoughts seemed to revert to Effie, his Effie, whom he had lost forever and aye, and great tears rolled down his cheeks.
Maya pitied him from the bottom of her heart.
“Dear me,” she thought, “there certainly is a lot of sadness in the world.”
At that moment she saw the half of the worm which Bobbie had set aside, making a hasty departure.
“Did you ever see the like!” she cried, surprised into such a loud tone that Bobbie looked around wondering where the sound had come from.
“Make way!” he called.