Then I espied a green lizard on a stone.

The beautiful reptile was about a foot in length, bright green, dotted with red, and he had diamonds for eyes.

Nearby a purple flower blossomed, delicate and pale, with a bee sucking at its golden heart.

I observed then that the lizard had his jewel eyes upon the bee; he slipped to the edge of the stone, flicked out a long, red tongue, and tore the insect from its honeyed perch.
Here were beauty, life and death; and I had been weary for something to look at, to think about, to distract me from the wearisome wait! "Listen!" broke in Jones's sharp voice.

His neck was stretched, his eyes were closed, his ear was turned to the wind.
With thrilling, reawakened eagerness, I strained my hearing.