Chapter XX. The Prince and the hermit.

The high hedge hid him from the house, now; and so, under the impulse of

a deadly fright, he let out all his forces and sped toward a wood in the

distance. He never looked back until he had almost gained the shelter of

the forest; then he turned and descried two figures in the distance.

That was sufficient; he did not wait to scan them critically, but hurried

on, and never abated his pace till he was far within the twilight depths

of the wood. Then he stopped; being persuaded that he was now tolerably

safe. He listened intently, but the stillness was profound and solemn

-awful, even, and depressing to the spirits. At wide intervals his

straining ear did detect sounds, but they were so remote, and hollow, and

mysterious, that they seemed not to be real sounds, but only the moaning

and complaining ghosts of departed ones. So the sounds were yet more

dreary than the silence which they interrupted.

It was his purpose, in the beginning, to stay where he was the rest of

the day; but a chill soon invaded his perspiring body, and he was at last

obliged to resume movement in order to get warm. He struck straight

through the forest, hoping to pierce to a road presently, but he was

disappointed in this. He travelled on and on; but the farther he went,

the denser the wood became, apparently. The gloom began to thicken,

by-and-by, and the King realised that the night was coming on. It made

him shudder to think of spending it in such an uncanny place; so he tried

198

The Prince and The Pauper