After a time, when he had recovered from his violent emotion, he
glanced toward the interior of the store and saw two or three grown
persons and several little girls talking with the German. One of
these little girls held in her arms the lady of his thoughts. He felt
like rushing upon them frantically, but he forbore, for it occurred
to him that his appearance was not in his favor, and that there would
be every chance of his getting a sound drubbing and being handed over
to the police. He stood rooted to the threshold, meditating upon the
horrors of the slave-trade, upon this heinous Tyrolese institution
wherein a few dollars decided the fate of honest creatures, exposing
them to the savage destructiveness of ill-bred children. Human nature
appeared to him in all its baseness. Those who had purchased the lady
left the shop and entered a luxurious carriage. And how they laughed,
the wretches! Even the wee fellow, the most petted and spoiled of
them all, no doubt, took the liberty of pulling the unfortunate
doll by the arms, although he had the greatest quantity of toys
appropriate to his age and for his own exclusive enjoyment. The grown
persons, too, seemed satisfied with the new acquisition.
While the footman stood by to receive orders, Pacorrito, who was
a person of heroic and daring resolutions, conceived the idea of
swinging behind the carriage. This he did with that agility peculiar
to the ragamuffin when he wishes to take a ride across the city.
Stretching his neck to the right, he saw the arm of the lady who had
been sacrificed to lucre sticking out of the window. This rigid arm
and its pink fist spoke forcibly to his imagination, calling to him
through the rumble of the wheels:
"Save me, save me, my Pacorrito!"