Our Frank | Page 5

enough
for himself, lay down in it, and carefully replaced the leaves up to his
very chin. He even put a few lightly over his face, and when that was
done no one would have imagined that a boy or any other living thing
was hidden there.
Then the solemn hours of darkness came silently on; all the creatures in
the great wood slept, and even Frank in his strange leafy bed slept also,
worn out with weariness.
About the middle of the night the breeze freshened a little, and the dry
leaves stirred and rustled. The sounds mingled with the boy's dreams,
and he thought he was lying in his attic at home, and that a mouse was
running over his face; he felt its little tickling feet and its long tail quite
plainly, and put up his hand to brush it away. Then he woke with a start.
The chill wind blew in his face and sighed among the trees, and instead
of the low attic beams there were waving branches over his head. He
was not at home, but alone, quite alone in Whiteleaf Wood, with thick
darkness all round him. Frank was frightened without knowing why; it
was all so "unked," as he would have expressed it, and as he stared
about with terrified eyes he seemed to see mysterious forms moving
near. Then he looked up towards the sky; and there, through a space
between the tops of the trees, was one solitary beautiful star shining
down upon him like a kind bright eye. It was a comfort to see it there,
and by degrees, as he lay with his eyes fixed upon it, he forgot his fears
a little, and began to think of other things. First there came into his

head one line of a hymn which he had often sung in the choir at
Danecross church:
"Brightest and best of the sons of the morning," it began. From that he
went on to consider what a long time it was since he had said his
prayers, because he was always so sleepy and tired at night, and he
thought he would say them now. But before he had finished them he
fell into a quiet slumber, which lasted till morning, when the sun,
peering through the trees, pointed suddenly down at his face with a
fiery finger and woke him up.
CHAPTER TWO.
The first thought that came into Frank's head was that he should not
have to go to plough that day. The second was, that it was
breakfast-time, that he was very hungry, and that he had nothing to eat.
This was not so pleasant; but proceeding to "farm" his pockets, which
in Buckinghamshire dialect means to rummage, he discovered a small
piece of very hard bread. With this scanty meal he was obliged to be
satisfied, and presently continued his journey in a tolerably cheerful
frame of mind. Where he was going and how he was to earn his living
he did not know; but on one subject he was quite resolved, he would
not go back till he was too big and strong for father to "whop" him. It
was hard to leave mother, and she would be sorry; but he thought he
would manage somehow to write her a letter, and put a stamp upon it
with the first penny he earned.
So reflecting, and varying the gravity of such thoughts by chasing the
squirrels and the grey rabbits that scudded across his path, he journeyed
on, and by degrees reached a part of the wood quite unknown to him.
He began to wonder now what he should do if he did not soon come to
a cottage or some place where he could ask for food, for it was many
hours since he had eaten, and he was faint with exhaustion. Never in his
life had he felt so dreadfully hungry, and there were not even berries
for him to eat at this time of the year. At last the craving became so
hard to bear, and his head was so queer and giddy that he thought he
must rest a little while. As far as he could judge by the sun it was about

four o'clock, and he must be a long way from Green Highlands. He
dropped down in a little crumpled heap at the foot of a tree, and shut
his eyes--nothing seemed to matter much, not even his father's anger;
nothing but this dreadful gnawing pain. The only other thing he was
conscious of was a distant continuous sound like the sawing of wood.
He did not take much notice of this at first, but by and by as it went on
and on monotonously the idea shaped itself in his mind that where