He had a big score to pay.

And he was there to pay it.

The fear of the dog was still upon him; and the shame that this child, the cause of all his humiliation, should have seen him run yelling up a tree.

It would take a mighty good flogging to square that.
Sonya cried out, in mortal terror, at his first step.

Then--probably only in her hysterical imagination, though afterward she vowed it had actually happened--came rescue.
Distinctly, against her quivering side, she felt the pressure of a warm furry bulk.