him; for he found that the
house door was double locked. Hop-o'-my-Thumb was now quite at a loss
what to do; but soon after this his mother gave each of the children a
piece of bread for breakfast and then it came into his head that he
could make his share do as well as the pebbles by dropping crumbs of
it all the way as he went. So he did not eat his piece, but put it
into his pocket.

It was not long before they all set out, and their parents took care
to lead them into the very thickest and darkest part of the forest.
They then slipped away by a by-path as before, and left the children
by themselves again. All this did not give Hop-o'-my-Thumb any
concern, for he thought himself quite sure of getting back by means of
the crumbs that he had dropped by the way; but when he came to look
for them he found that not a crumb was left, for the birds had eaten
them all up.

The poor children were now sadly off, for the farther they went the
harder it was for them to get out of the forest. At last night came
on, and the noise of the wind among the trees seemed to them like the
howling of wolves, so that every moment they thought they should be
eaten up. They hardly dared to speak a word, or to move a limb, for
fear. Soon after there came a heavy rain which wetted them to the very
skin, and made the ground so slippery that they fell down at almost
every step and got dirty all over.

Before it was quite dark Hop-o'-my-Thumb climbed up to the top of a
tree, and looked round on all sides to see if he could find any way of
getting help. He saw a small light, like that of a candle, but it was
a very great way off, and beyond the forest. He then came down from
the tree, to try to find the way to it; but he could not see it when
he was on the ground, and he was in the utmost trouble what to do
next. They walked on towards the place where he had seen the light,
and at last reached the end of the forest, and got sight of it again.
They now walked faster; and after being much tired and vexed (for
every time they got into lower ground they lost sight of the light),
came to the house it was in. They knocked at the door, which was
opened by a very poor-natured-looking lady, who asked what brought
them there. Hop-o'-my-Thumb told her that they were poor children who
had lost their way in the forest, and begged that she would give them
a bed till morning. When the lady saw that they had such pretty faces
she began to shed tears, and said