before his
return, as he still thought they might do better, and get a truer image
of the faint stars; so, forgetting all about Pete Warboys and his dog,
Tom worked away as busily as if his uncle were at his elbow.

Then came another letter delaying the return; and in a postscript Uncle
Richard wrote that he had called at Gray's Inn, and seen Sam, who said
that his father was now nearly well.

"I shall be very, very glad when Uncle Richard gets back again," said
Tom that night when he went to his bedroom, and then he began thinking
about Pete. He got no further with him, but whenever he saw the dog,
the animal always barked and wagged his tail.

"Dog's easier than boy," thought Tom. "Well, I can't help it; I tried
to be friends, and I fancied he meant to be now; but I suppose he can't
forgive me for the beating. Still, he doesn't shout after me now. How
I do long to get on again with telescope work!"

The thought of this made him go to the window, pull up the blind, and
throw the casement wide.

He listened for a few moments as he gazed over the dark garden, and then
laughed softly, for there was no likelihood, he thought, of any one
coming after the apples; then kneeling down so that he could rest his
arms upon the window-sill, and gaze out at the intensely black sky,
which was now ablaze with stars shining out with wondrous clearness.
Constellation after constellation glittered above his head, with many a
great star which he had now learned to know. There was Vega brilliant
in the extreme. There too was Altair. The bull's-eye shone out of a
deep golden hue; and below it, and more to the south, he made out Sirius
glittering in its diamond lustre.

"That's Jupiter too," said Tom to himself; and as his eyes swept on, he
could see Venus low-down in the south-west, just passing out of sight.

Gazing on, with his eyes sweeping along the west, he passed Cygnus, with
its great triangle, mighty Arcturus, and--

"What's that?"

Tom's question to himself was put not concerning a bright star or
planet, but apropos of a noise which came from the direction of the
mill.

He listened intently, with his heart beginning to throb, for there was a
faint noise as of a step on gravel, and then a faint whispering.

Tom's heart ceased throbbing for a few moments, and then went on again
in a way which felt suffocating, as he felt convinced that there was
some one in the mill-yard.

He listened for a minute, and then went