ll sat close to the fire, in
order to see. Some one produced a pack of dirty cards, and they began a
game of some kind. Archie was asked to join, but he told them he didn't
know anything about card-playing. The poor lad was beginning to wish he
had never left home, and felt more miserable than at any other period
of the journey. He walked over to a corner of the ruins where the light
from the fire did not penetrate, and, once there, he sat down and sobbed
bitterly for a time. When he had finished crying it seemed impossible
for him to sleep. The scene about the fire fascinated him. The men were
seated in every sort of picturesque attitude, and as the flickering
light fell upon their dark faces it wasn't hard for the poor lad to
imagine that he had fallen among a crowd of brigands. He watched them as
they played until he could see no longer, and then he fell into a sound
sleep.

When Archie woke it was still dark, but the moon was shining brightly
overhead, making everything as light as day. He rubbed his eyes and sat
up, and it was some time before he could realise where he was. Then, as
he saw the tramps lying about the ground, he remembered his adventures
of the night before, and, horrified that he had allowed himself to
sleep, he hastily jumped up, and determined to get away from the ruins
as quickly as possible. The tramps were all sleeping soundly, and
the only noises to be heard were the sound of their breathing and
the blood-curdling hoot of some owl perched on the pillars of the old
portico. The boy picked his way carefully between the bodies of the
sleeping men, and in a minute stood once more on the grand flight of
steps outside. He was trembling for fear some tramp would awake and
prevent his going, and when a bat brushed him in its flight he almost
screamed with terror. Far out beyond the trees and the shrubby he could
see the road glistening in the moonlight, and he made his way as rapidly
as possible out of the grounds, and was once more on his way to the
city.

It was lonesome work, walking along a country road at night, and
Archie remembered with longing his cosy bed at home. The feeling of
homesickness kept growing within him, despite his efforts to down it,
and when at last the glorious autumn sun rose over the eastern horizon
he was miserable with longing for mother and for home. But he was too
proud to even think of turning back. He must reach the city at all
hazards, homesick or not.

Archie did