HAPPY 



attack, as though his very life depended on his rate of 

 speed. 



I lay there for a moment, scarcely able to move. 

 But what could I do? The moon was still bright, but 

 bright as it was, the way back home was dark. In- 

 stinctively, I turned to a friendly bush and made my 

 way to the topmost branch, and there I planted my- 

 self for the rest of the night. 



The^wind was blowing lustily. I did not like the 

 threshing back and forth of the branches in the gloom, 

 with the chance of being knocked off at any moment. 

 I could not think calmly of crawling on the ground, 

 for Crip had told me this was a thing to be avoided at 

 all hazards. Scorpions and beetles and toads and 

 snakes made the night perilous. So I clung to the 

 branch with all my might. Now and again a pause 

 in the wind would allow me to look up at the stars 

 through the screen of leaves and how dear and won- 

 derful they were! Long ago I had thought how beau- 

 tiful it must be up there in the blue space, fretted with 

 tiny lights no bigger than the candle burning in the 

 window of the Master's house. And even then, as I 

 turned, I could see his lamp, and I almost started to 

 fly toward it. There was a fascination in its beams 

 which I could scarcely resist. Always, when on 

 guard duty, at any hour of the night, I had been able 

 to see his light and to hear the bark of his dog. He 

 seemed never to sleep or if he slept the lamp and the 

 dog kept watch over him. 



The blustering wind finally had compassion on me 

 and ceased altogether. There came a. silence that was 

 more than silence. I felt it oppressive. Then, as if 



