Henry crept a little nearer. He made a slight noise, as of a
lizard running through the grass, but the woman took no notice.
He crept closer, and. there he lay flat upon the grass within six
feet of her, his figure merely a slightly darker blur against the
dark blur of the earth. Then, trusting to the woman's courage
and strength of mind, he emitted a hiss very soft and low, like
the warning of a serpent, half in fear and half in anger.
The woman moved a little, and looked toward the point from which
the sound had come. It might have been the formidable hiss of a
coiling rattlesnake that she heard, but she felt no fear. She
was too much stunned, too near exhaustion to be alarmed by
anything, and she did not look a second time. She merely settled
back on the pine boughs, and again looked dully up at the pale,
cold stars that cared so little for her or hers.
Henry crept another yard nearer, and then he uttered that low
noise, sibilant and warning, which the woman, the product of the
border, knew to be made by a human being. She raised herself a
little, although it was difficult with her bound hands to sit
upright, and saw a dark shadow approaching her.
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