Without either triumph or regret the boy struggled on. The broadening of
day made him partly aware of the savage presence that he made and of the
likelihood that traffic might open on the road at any time. Some of his
clothing was gone, and he had bound the remaining strips and rags about
him as best he could. He did not know about the aspect of his face and
hair, but he realized that should any one encounter him in the road he
might be forced to do something distasteful, and that the urgent task
ahead might be interrupted.

A horseman and two market wagons passed at intervals, but the boy was
hidden at the roadside. So he reeled on and on, and so he came at last
to the great pine. There he turned out and crawled as much as walked
through the trees and undergrowth to the summit of a low ridge, where he
felt the sunshine fall on his half-naked back. It was so luxurious that
he paused in the full glare of it, and slowly turned, as one very cold
before a warming fire, and reveled in it. With every moment he felt it
pouring into him, tingling softly as it ran. It was odd with what
cheerful industry it hunted out the coldest places in him and kindled
snug little fires under them. Most of all, it gave attention to the warm
place that had already started in the center, and that one woke to a
wonderful glow. Thus refreshed, he descended the slope on the farther
side and came to a morass threaded by a friendly stream. At the edge of
the bog he halted and looked keenly about. It had been two years since
his last visit to this spot, and, though his memory of the woods was
excellent, he now found himself dull and his vision bad. Ordinarily he
would have found at once what he was seeking. Up and down along the
margin he stumbled, straining his dim eyes, crawling sometimes and using
groping hands in the search. Surely no one else could have come upon
this remote spot, found the treasure, and taken it away!

At last! It had seemed to him a very long time; but all else was
submerged in the joy of the first triumph, the first elation, that the
lad had felt in many, many a day. Every shadow that had lain on his
conscience vanished, every shame that had cursed his years was swept
away, all bitterness took flight, and something fine and sweet raced
through him deliciously.

There was no waste of precious time in hunting for something with which
to dig. Then, too, the glorious sun had mounted, and was pouring its
flood of light and warmth