Then my little people awoke, and cried out
with hunger. We ate of the fruits and honey brought us by our unknown
friend, feeding, also, our little charge, to whom my daughters gave the
pet name of _Minou_, which he still keeps.
"I busied myself with his _toilette_. There was no need to go to the
brook for a bath, for the rain came down incessantly. I then folded
Matilda's apron round him, which pleased her greatly. The rain ceased
for a while, and they set off for flowers to amuse him. They were
scarcely gone when I heard the cries of the savages again; but this time
they seemed rather shouts of joy and triumph; they sung and chaunted a
sort of chorus; but were still at such distance that I had time to recal
my daughters, and withdrew them out of sight. I took _Minou_ with me as
a mediator, and placed myself in an angle of the rock, where I could see
without being seen. They passed, as before, beyond the wood, armed, and
two of them bore at the end of their lances something very large and
dark, which I could not distinguish, but thought might be some wild
beast they had destroyed; afterwards, I flattered myself it might be the
bear, whose return I so greatly dreaded. Following the train was a
woman, naked, with her hair hanging down, uttering loud cries, and
tearing her face and breast.
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