"How long this continued I cannot say, but I suppose only for a
minute. So far as my own perception of time's flight is concerned,
however, it might have been an age.
"I was awakened by the harsh crackling of some dry sticks upon which
the boy had stepped as he continued to shuffle forward. The recovery
was as sudden as the attack. In an instant I was disenchanted. The
bush looked familiar, and I heard the fall of water in the stream, but
a thought of imminent danger now possessed my mind; so shouting with a
voice that made the woods ring, I seized the lad around the waist, and
heavy as he was, ran with him quite a quarter of a mile without
stopping. I confess it most frankly that I didn't stop until I fell
exhausted in the public road. To tell the cowardly truth, I should
have ran on until now if I had been able. So we fell down together and
lay for a good while panting.
"Then I got up and propping myself against a poplar, took little John
on my knee. His nervous system was unstrung. He was weeping bitterly,
and sobbing as if his heart would break. His flesh was cold and
clammy, his pulse was almost still, and he hadn't strength to raise
his hands to his mouth.
"I had some root ginger in my pocket--I always carry a piece with me--
which I chewed and made him swallow. This revived him. Then I rubbed
him briskly, pinched his skin in divers tender spots, and by these
means and cheerful conversation, got him so that he could stand alone
and answer my questions.
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