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resembled the bleating of a lamb.
Then he was frightened, and thought of flight.
The groan again. This was the fourth time. It was strangely miserable
and plaintive. One felt that after that last effort, more mechanical
than voluntary, the cry would probably be extinguished. It was an
expiring exclamation, instinctively appealing to the amount of aid held
in suspense in space. It was some muttering of agony, addressed to a
possible Providence.
The child approached in the direction from whence the sound came.
Still he saw nothing.
He advanced again, watchfully.
The complaint continued. Inarticulate and confused as it was, it had
become clear--almost vibrating. The child was near the voice; but where
was it?
He was close to a complaint. The trembling of a cry passed by his side
into space. A human moan floated away into the darkness. This was what
he had met. Such at least was his impression, dim as the dense mist in
which he was lost.
Whilst he hesitated between an instinct which urged him to fly and an
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