The little Girl

The little girl,Pauline, wandered away towards the edge of the dark firewood,where it came down close behind the log cabin,where she lived with her mother. She was attracted by one pleasant object after another and walk untill she was tired. Then she turned around and started,as she thought for home. She walked on and on till she knew she had gone far enough to have reached home four times over. Her feet faltered and at last she stood quite still helplessly. She knew that she was lost. All at once the wood became lonely, terrible and she broke into loud wailing.

The she bear heard her voice being reminded by it of her own club,which she had lost she moved noiselessly towards the sound. But other ears heard it too.

A tawny form began to creep stealthily in the same direction. His limbs looked heavy and his paws were large compared with his small,flat and cruel head but his movements were noiseless as light. When he caught sight of the crying child he stopped. Then he kept forward more stealthily than before with his neck stretched out in line with his tail.

He made no sound but Pauline felt sense that he was there. She stopped her crying glanced suddenly round and fixed a clear look upon his glaring green eyes. It was the empty gloom which had made Pauline’s fear. She knew it was a panther, but she was too small to have any terror of an animal. The panther shifted his eyes uneasily as she stared at him. Then anger grew within him and he lashed his tail with angry jerks….