He tried
to jolly himself up a bit by saying something audacious. Then he thought
no more about the statue, but betook himself to a wide street which led
down to the sea.
But the boy hadn't gone far before he heard that someone was following
him. Someone was walking behind him, who stamped on the stone pavement
with heavy footsteps, and pounded on the ground with a hard stick. It
sounded as if the bronze man up in the square had gone out for a
promenade.
The boy listened after the steps, while he ran down the street, and he
became more and more convinced that it was the bronze man. The ground
trembled, and the houses shook. It couldn't be anyone but he, who walked
so heavily, and the boy grew panic-stricken when he thought of what he
had just said to him. He did not dare to turn his head to find out if it
really was he.
"Perhaps he is only out walking for recreation," thought the boy.
"Surely he can't be offended with me for the words I spoke. They were
not at all badly meant."
Instead of going straight on, and trying to get down to the dock, the
boy turned into a side street which led east. First and foremost, he
wanted to get away from the one who tramped after him.
But the next instant he heard that the bronze man had switched off to
the same street; and then the boy was so scared that he didn't know what
he would do with himself.
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