at this point i feared i had done him harm , for no matter what i said , or did , for the better part of twenty minutes , the boy alternately cried and moaned softly , as if in deepest despair , before he suddenlyand much to my surprisestood up , as if a different person had just arrived to inhabit him and expressed disgust at such mannersbrushed the dirt off his clothes , and looked at me , a little lost .