THE high hedge hid him from the house now; and so, under the impulse of a

Deadly fright, he let out all his forces and sped toward a wood in the distance.

He never looked back until he had almost gained the shelter of the forest; then

He turned and descried two figures in the distance. That was sufficient; he did

Not wait to scan them critically, but hurried on, and never abated his pace till

He was far within the twilight depths of the wood. Then he stopped; being

Persuaded that he was now tolerably safe. He listened intently, but the

Stillness was profound and solemn- awful, even, and depressing to the spirits.

At wide intervals his straining ear did detect sounds, but they were so remote,

And hollow, and mysterious, that they seemed not to be real sounds, but only

The moaning and complaining ghosts of departed ones. So the sounds were yet

More dreary than the silence which they interrupted.

It was his purpose, in the beginning, to stay where he was, the rest of the day;

But a chill soon invaded his perspiring body, and he was at last obliged to

Resume movement in order to get warm. He struck straight through the forest,

Hoping to pierce to a road presently, but he was disappointed in this. He

Traveled on and on; but the farther he went, the denser the wood became,

Apparently. The gloom began to thicken, by and by, and the king realized that