t, roughly shaking Fred. "It ain't
far now; for I remember that the wood is very long, but not very broad
from east to west, so if we keep walking east we shall soon get out."

So onward they pressed again, very slowly and laboriously, for about
another half-hour, and then Philip stumbled and fell, for a spiteful
bramble had caught him by the foot, and the poor boy could hold up no
longer; he had cheered his cousin on in every way he could, and taken
the lead throughout, though his heart was sinking, and he knew the
trouble all proceeded from their own folly; but though he kept down his
faint-heartedness and tried manfully to put a bold face on the matter,
he was beaten, thoroughly beaten, at last, and lay upon the dewy grass,
completely jaded, and without energy or spirit to make another attempt,
while Fred, seeing his cousin's heart fail, broke down as well.

But all at once Philip's eyes brightened, and he started up as though
touched by the wire of an electrical machine.

"Bow-wow-wow; wuph, wuph, wuph!" sounded upon the clear night air.

"Trill--lill--lill--lill--chug--chug--chug--chug--chug!" rang out the
sweet notes of a nightingale close by; and then again--

"Bow-wow-wow; wuph, wuph, wuph!" from a dog apparently not far off.

"Come on," said Philip again, with fresh energy; and casting one glance
up at the stars, he pushed forward due east for about a dozen yards with
Fred close behind him, and then, forcing his way through a dense hazel
stub, he made a step forward, slipped, and went down crash into a deep
ditch. But he did not stop in despair this time, although scratched and
bruised, for he was out of the wood, and leaping up he stood upon the
green turf by the side of the white chalky road.

"Jump, Fred," he exclaimed, "right over the ditch."

Fred jumped; but instead of jumping right over he jumped right in, and
had to be helped out by Philip; but he shared in his companion's renewed
spirit, and now stood with him in the dusty road looking about.

"Bow-wow-wow; wuph, wuph!" barked the dog again.

"Why, I know where we are," said Philip; "that's Mr Benson's farm, and
we are six miles away from home. Never mind; let's go and tell Mrs
Benson, I know she will let us rest a little while."

Fred was willing enough, and in a minute or two they stood under the
porch of the old farm-house, with the dewy roses bending over them as
they rapped at the door; while all the time the dog in the yard rattled