ot a leaf moved. Finally he moved away from that spot,
but treading very softly, and holding his breath to listen, for it
seemed to him that the forest had something to tell him, and that if
he listened he would hear the leaves speaking to him. And by-and-by
he did hear a sound: it came from a spot about a hundred yards away,
and was like the sound of a person crying. Then came low sobs which
rose and fell and then ceased, and after a silent interval began
again. Perhaps it was a child, lost there in the forest like himself.
Going softly to the spot he discovered that the sobbing sounds came
from the other side of a low tree with widespread branches, a kind
of acacia with thin loose foliage, but he could not see through it,
and so he went round the tree to look, and startled a dove which flew
off with a loud clatter of its wings.

When the dove had flown away it was again very silent. What was he
to do? He was too tired now to walk much farther, and the sun was
getting low, so that all the ground was in shadow. He went on a
little way looking for some nice shelter where he could pass the
night, but could not find one. At length, when the sun had set and
the dark was coming, he came upon an old half-dead tree, where there
was a hollow at the roots, lined with half dry moss, very soft to
his foot, and it seemed a nice place to sleep in. But he had no
choice, for he was afraid of going further in the dark among the
trees; and so, creeping into the hollow among the old roots, he
curled himself up as comfortably as he could, and soon began to get
very drowsy, in spite of having no covering to keep him warm. But
although very tired and sleepy, he did not go quite to sleep, for he
had never been all alone in a wood by night before, and it was
different from the open plain where he could see all round, even at
night, and where he had feared nothing. Here the trees looked strange
and made strange black shadows, and he thought that the strange
people of the wood were perhaps now roaming about and would find him
there. He did not want them to find him fast asleep; it was better
to be awake, so that when they came he could jump up and run away
and hide himself from them. Once or twice a slight rustling sound
made him start and think that at last some one was coming to him,
stealing softly so as to catch him unawares, but he could see
nothing moving, and when he held his breath to listen there was no
sound.

[Illustration: ]

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