I
said that I had no idea what country I was in; that I had stumbled upon
it almost by accident, after a series of hairbreadth escapes; and that I
trusted they would not allow any evil to overtake me now that I was
completely at their mercy. All this I said quietly and firmly, with
hardly any change of expression. They could not understand me, but they
looked approvingly to one another, and seemed pleased (so I thought) that
I showed no fear nor acknowledgment of inferiority--the fact being that I
was exhausted beyond the sense of fear. Then one of them pointed to the
mountain, in the direction of the statues, and made a grimace in
imitation of one of them. I laughed and shuddered expressively, whereon
they all burst out laughing too, and chattered hard to one another. I
could make out nothing of what they said, but I think they thought it
rather a good joke that I had come past the statues. Then one among them
came forward and motioned me to follow, which I did without hesitation,
for I dared not thwart them; moreover, I liked them well enough, and felt
tolerably sure that they had no intention of hurting me.
In about a quarter of an hour we got to a small Hamlet built on the side
of a hill, with a narrow street and houses huddled up together.
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