66 SLEEPS IN A HA YCOCK. CHAP. iv. 



and was now very tired. He was desirous of putting 

 up somewhere for the night. But first he must have 

 his supper. He sat down by a little rill, and, with 

 the help of the water, ate some more of his meal 

 and a piece of his oat-cake. After he had refreshed 

 himself, he thought he could walk a few more miles. 

 He had now walked forty miles. The twilight being 

 long in the north, and the month being July, he went 

 on until he came to what he thought would be a 

 good beild* for the night. This was a field in which 

 there were a number of haycocks. He crossed the 

 wall, went up to a haycock, pulled a lot of hay out, 

 then ensconced himself inside, and soon fell fast asleep. 



Towards morning he was wakened up by some- 

 thing scratching at his brow. On putting his hand 

 up he found it was a big black beetle trying to 

 work its way in between his skin and his bonnet. 

 He wished he had had his box with him to preserve 

 the beetle, but he could only throw it away. As he 

 lay awake he heard the mice squeaking about him. 

 It was still dark, though there was a glimmering of 

 light in the east. Day was about to break. So he 

 got out of his hole, shook the hay from him, crossed 

 the wall, and resumed his journey. 



Though he felt stiff at first, he soon recovered his 

 walking powers, and reached Arbroath by daylight. 

 Everybody was in bed, excepting one woman, whom 

 he saw standing at the end of a close-mouth. He 



* Beild shelter. 



