"'The first drops of the rain fell ...'"
Roly-Poly began to drum his fingers on the back of a chair.
"'... In the distance flashed the first lightning ... '"
Roly-Poly's eye winked quickly, and the left corner of his mouth
gave a twitch.
"'... Whereupon the rain began to pour down in torrents, and there
came a sudden, blinding flash of lightning...'"
And with unusual artistry and rapidity Roly-Poly, with a
successive movement of his eyebrows, eyes, nose, the upper and the
lower lip, portrayed a lightning zig-zag.
"'... A jarring thunder clap burst out--trrroo-oo. An oak that had
stood through the ages fell down to earth, as though it were a
frail reed ...'"
And Roly-Poly with an ease and daring not to be expected from one
of his years, bending neither the knees nor the back, only drawing
down his head, instantaneously fell down; straight, like a statue,
with his back to the floor, but at once deftly sprang up on his
feet.
"'But now the thunder storm is gradually abating. The lightning
flashes less and less often. The thunder sounds duller, just like
a satiated beast--oooooo-oooooo .
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