As they caught sight of me, they screamed aloud in terror.

I retired a little way discomfited, remembering suddenly my own fantastic appearance.

Of course, they thought I was another black fellow coming to torture them.

All kinds of extraordinary reflections flashed through my mind at that moment.

What would people in my beloved France, I wondered--or among my Swiss mountains, or in stately England--think of the fate that had overtaken these girls--a fate that would infallibly read more like extravagant and even offensive fiction than real, heart-rending fact?
I went back and stood before the girls, saying, reassuringly, "Ladies, I am a white man and a friend; and if you will only trust in me I think I can save you." Their amazement at this little speech knew no bounds, and one of the girls became quite hysterical.