He stretched his right hand (the left arm, the mutilated one, he kept hidden in his bosom); he seemed to wish by touch to gain an idea of what lay around him: he met but vacancy still; for the trees were some yards off where he stood.
Il leva sa main droite, car il tenait toujours caché dans sa poitrine le bras qui avait été mutilé; il semblait vouloir, par le toucher, comprendre ce qui l'entourait; mais il ne trouva que le vide: les arbres étaient éloignés de quelques mètres.