trings so that
they gave out a horrible, nasty, eery clinkering and rattling; and the
sportsman went so far as to take a deliberate aim at Felix with his
gun; and both of them croaked out, "Wait a little, you boy and you
girl. We are obedient pupils of Master Tutor Ink: he'll be here
directly, and then we'll pay you out nicely for despising us."
Terrified--regardless of the rain, which was now streaming in torrents,
and of the rattling peals of thunder, and the gale which was roaring
through the firs--the children ran away from thence, and came to the
brink of the pond which bordered the wood. But as soon as they got
there, lo and behold! Christlieb's big doll, which Felix had thrown
into the water, rose out of the sedges, and squeaked out, in a horrible
voice, "Wait a little, you boy and you girl! Stupid things! Senseless
creatures! You despised me; didn't know what to do with me--how to
treat me. So now you can get on without playthings the best way you
can. I am an obedient pupil of Master Tutor Ink's: he'll be here
directly, and then you'll be nicely paid out for despising me." And
then the nasty thing sent great splashes of water flying at Felix and
Christlieb, though they were wet through already with the rain.

Felix could not endure this terrible process of haunting. Poor
Christlieb was half dead, so they ran off again, as hard as they could;
but soon, in the heart of the wood, they sank down, exhausted with
weariness and terror. Then they heard a humming and a buzzing behind
them. "Oh, heavens!" cried Felix; "here comes Tutor Ink, now!" At that
moment his consciousness left him, and so did Christlieb's too.

When they came back to their senses, they found themselves lying on a
bed of soft moss. The storm was over, the sun was shining bright and
kindly, and the raindrops were hanging on the glittering bushes and
trees like sparkling jewels. The children were much surprised to find
that their clothes were quite dry, and that they felt no trace of
either cold or wet. "Ah!" cried Felix, stretching his arms to the sky;
"the Stranger Child must have protected us." And then they both called
out so loud that the wood re-echoed: "Ah, thou darling child, do but
come to us again! We do so long for you; we cannot live without you!"
And it seemed, too, as though a bright beam of light came darting
through the trees, making the flowers lift up their heads as it touched
them. But though the children called upon their playfel