For there is no sun out, and now I perceive it looks
very like rain. I wonder how long I have been walking! I'm sure I
don't know."

Edward then hurried in a direction which he considered might lead him
homeward, and walked fast; but he once more fell into his habit of
castle-building, and was talking to himself: "The king proclaimed in
Scotland! He will come over of course: I will join his army--and
then--"

Thus he went on, again absorbed in the news which he had gained from
Oswald, till on a sudden he again recollected himself, and perceived
that he had lost sight of the copse of trees on a high hill, to which he
had been directing his steps. Where was it? He turned round and round,
and at last found out that he had been walking away from it.

"I must dream no more," thought he; "or if I do indulge in any more
day-dreams, I certainly shall neither sleep nor dream to-night. It is
getting dark already, and here am I lost in the forest, and all through
my own foolishness. If the stars do not shine, I shall not know how to
direct my steps; indeed, if they do, I don't know whether I have walked
south or north, and I am in a pretty pickle;--not that I care for being
out in the forest on a night like this; but my sisters and Humphrey will
be alarmed at my absence. The best thing I can do, is to decide upon
taking some straight line, and continue in it: I must then get out of
the forest at last, even if I walk right across it. That will be better
than going backwards and forwards, or round and round, as I otherwise
shall do, just like a puppy running after its own tail. So now shine
out, stars."

Edward waited until he could make out Charles's Wain, which he well
knew, and then the Polar Star. As soon as he was certain of that, he
resolved to travel by it due north, and he did so, sometimes walking
fast, and at others keeping up a steady trot for half a mile without
stopping. As he was proceeding on his travels, he observed, under some
trees ahead of him, a spark of fire emitted; he thought it was a
glow-worm at first; but it was more like the striking of a flint against
steel; and as he saw it a second time, he stopped, that he might
ascertain what it might be before he advanced farther.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

It was now very dark, as there was no moon, and the stars were often
obscured by the clouds, which were heavy, and borne along by the wind,
which was very high. The light again appeared, and this