Page:Collodi - The Story of a Puppet, translation Murray, 1892.djvu/161

 however, not wishing to trust him too far, thought it more prudent to jump again into the water. When he had swum some distance from the shore he called out to the friend he had rescued:

'Good-bye, Alidoro; a good journey to you, and take my compliments to all at home.'

'Good-bye, Pinocchio,' answered the dog; 'a thousand thanks for having saved my life. You have done me a great service, and in this world what is given is returned. If an occasion offers I shall not forget it.'

Pinocchio swam on, keeping always near the land. At last he thought that he had reached a safe place. Giving a look along the shore he saw amongst the rocks a kind of cave from which a cloud of smoke was ascending.

'In that cave,' he said to himself, 'there must be a fire. So much the better. I will go and dry and warm myself, and then? . . . and then we shall see.'

Having taken this resolution he approached the rocks; but as he was going to climb up, he felt something under the water that rose higher and higher and carried him into the air. He tried to escape, but it was too late, for to his extreme surprise he found himself enclosed in a great net, together with a swarm of fish of every size and shape, who were