Nobody can foretell what might happen in case he should be ill-humoured.

The woman began to scan the landscape around; it was a clear space, and she could see the bushes from their tops down to the ground.

The base of one of these bushes attracted her attention.
Almost level with the soil, something black appeared beneath its branches.

As she examined it more closely she saw that it was not really black, but of a grayish brown, like the colour of the soil.

It was neither a plant nor was it a part of the earth itself, nor a stone.