There came a
heavy sigh from the direction of the cot which made him start as if a
pistol had exploded in his ear; and then he was aware of two large eyes
staring at him.
There was a tense pause. A drop of perspiration rolled down his
cheek-bone and anchored itself stickily on the angle of his jaw. It
tickled abominably, but he did not dare to move for fear of unleashing
the scream which brooded over the situation like a cloud.
At any moment now a howl of terror might rip the silence and bring the
household on the run. And then--the explanations! A second drop of
perspiration started out in the wake of the first.
The large eyes continued to inspect him. They were clouded with sleep.
Suddenly a frightened look came into them, and, as he saw it, Steve
braced his muscles for the shock.
"Here it comes!" he said miserably to himself. "Oh, Lord! We're off!"
He searched in his brain for speech, desperately, as the best man at a
wedding searches for that ring while the universe stands still, waiting
expectantly.
He found no speech.
The child's mouth opened. Steve eyed him, fascinated. No bird,
encountering a snake, was ever so incapable of movement as he.
"Are you a germ?" inquired William Bannister.
Steve tottered to the cot and sat down on it. The relief was too much
for him.
"Gee, kid!" he said, "you had my goat then.
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