up to let her in. Mrs Wishing would be all
right now that Joshua knew about her; "and anyway, I'm glad I came,"
said Lilac to herself, "even if Aunt does scold a bit."

With this thought to console her, she stepped out into the cool summer
night, and began her homeward journey. It was not very dark, for it was
midsummer--near Saint Barnabas Day, when there is scarcely any night at
all--

"Barnaby Bright
All day and no night!"

Lilac had often heard her mother say that rhyme, and she remembered it
now. It was all very, very still, so that all manner of sounds too low
to have been noticed amongst the noises of the day were now plainly to
be heard. A soft wind went whispering and sighing to itself in the
trees overhead, carrying with it the sweetness of the hayfields and the
honeysuckle in the hedges, owls hooted mysteriously, and the frogs
croaked in some distant pond. Creatures never seen in the daytime were
now awake and busy. As Lilac ran along, the bats whirred close past her
face, and she saw in the grass by the wayside the steady little light of
the glow-worms. It was certainly very late; there was hardly a glimmer
of hope that anyone would be up at the farm. It was equally certain
that, if there were, a scolding waited for Lilac. Either way it was
bad, she thought. She wanted to go to bed, for she was very tired, but
she did not want to be scolded to-night; she could bear that better in
the morning. When she reached the house, therefore, and found it all
silent and dark, with no light in any window and no sound of any
movement, she hardly knew whether to be glad or sorry. But presently,
as she stood there forlornly, with only the sky overhead full of stars
blinking their cold bright eyes at her, she began to long to creep in
somewhere and rest. Her limbs ached, her head felt heavy, and her hard
little bed seemed a luxury well worth the expense of a scolding. Should
she venture to knock at the door? She had almost determined on this
bold step, when quite suddenly a happy idea came to her. There would
perhaps be some door open in the outbuildings, either in the loft or the
barn or the stables, where she could get in and find shelter for the
night. It was worth trying at any rate. With renewed hope she ran
across the strawyard and tried the great iron ring in the stable door.
It was not locked. Here were shelter and rest at last, and no one to
scold!

She crept in, and was just closing the