"Oh no! They say he eats men."
Mary laughed again.
"An' women and bars--raw."
Mary laughed louder and longer than ever, and when she laughed she
looked so ineffably sweet that March resolved to go on with the
catalogue of the Wild Man's virtues piecemeal, waiting for the laugh
between each statement, until there was not another idea left in his
brain for his tongue to utter. But this amiable intention was
frustrated by the report of a gun outside, which echoed and re-echoed
among these savage cliffs like muttering thunder. It was followed by a
yell that caused Mary to start up with a look of horror and rush out of
the cave, leaving the invalid in a most distressing state of uncertainty
as to what he should do, and in no little anxiety as to what would
happen next.