to feel fear, and of ordinary pluck and spirit he had plenty; it was
moral courage, which is, after all, the true courage, that he lacked.
His spirit was dashed, though, when he reached the back door and saw the
huge bolts by which it was secured. It was locked too, and the key taken
away. "I must try a window," he thought, rallying from his
disappointment. Shutters were fastened over the kitchen window, and he
had had to light his candle to see anything. But the shutters were easily
unfastened, and the window opened, and with very little trouble Paul
clambered through and reached the ground. His stockinged feet made no
sound on the paved yard, and all was easy now for him if he could but find
the right bush. But when he got away from the house, and found himself,
to all appearances, alone on the great empty moor with its hushed,
mysterious noises, its strange shadows, its rises and dips, here and there
a gleaming pool, and here and there a strangely shaped form, all looking
to him odd and uncanny in the dim, weird light, a great awe fell on him.
He thought of the wild animals wandering about there, the treacherous
ground, the people who had been lost there, and never heard of again, and
it seemed to him that a white mysterious light moved about over some of
the hollows. His heart beat fast and heavily, his throat felt dry and
stiff, but he did not dare hesitate. He felt only one great longing to
have his errand done, and be safely back in the house again. How snug,
and safe, and comfortable his little bedroom seemed now! How he envied
those who were able to lie in their beds with clean consciences, and no
unconfessed sins to haunt them! How silly, and worse than silly--how bad
had been the act which had brought all this trouble on him! And he felt
no pride in himself now.

It seemed to him he would never reach the spot he wanted; the distance
around the house to it seemed far, far greater than he had thought, and
all looked so different and strange, approached from this point. He began
to fear he would never find the particular bush he sought; it seemed such
a hopeless task to embark on in the dark, and alone. In order to make it
more easy, he made his way to the door in the wall, and tried to retrace
his steps of yesterday, as nearly as possible, but even that was more
difficult than he had imagined. He thought the bush was straight ahead,
and not very far off, but when he acted on this idea he found hi