and therefore he thought that God had taken
these cares away from him. And so he made up his mind.

Then he cast about where he had best dwell; and he thought of the
Isles of Sunset as a lonely place, where he might live and not be
disturbed. There was the little cave high up in the rock-face, looking
towards the land, to which he had once scrambled up. This would give
him shelter; and there were moreover some small patches of earth, near
the base of the rock, where he could grow a few herbs and a little
corn. He had some money of his own, which would keep him until his
garden was grown up; and he could fish, he thought, from the rocks,
and find shell-fish and other creatures of the sea, which would give
him meat.

So the next day he bought a few tools that he thought he would need,
and rowed all over when it was dusk. He put his small stores in a cave
by the water's edge. The day after, he went and made a few farewells;
he told no one where he was going; but it pleased him to find a little
love for him in the hearts of some. One parting was a strangely sore
one: there was an old and poor woman that lived very meanly in the
place, who had an only granddaughter, a little maid. These two he
loved very much, and had often done them small kindnesses. He kept
this good-bye to the last, and went to the house after sundown. The
old woman bade him sit down, and asked him what he meant to do, now
that he was alone. "I am going away, mother," he said gently. The
child, hearing this, came over the room from where she sate, and said
to him, "No, David, do not go away." "Yes, dear child," he said, "I
must even go." Then she said, "But where will you go? May I not come
to see you sometimes?" and she put her small arms round his neck, and
laid her cheek to his. Then David's heart was very full of love, and
he said, smiling, and with his arm round the child, "Dear one, I must
not say where I am going--and it is a rough place, too, not fit for
such tender little folk as you; but, if I can, I will come again and
see you." Then the old grandmother, looking upon him very gravely,
said, "Tell me what is in your mind." But he said, "Nay, mother, do
not ask me; I am going to a place that is near and yet far; and I am
going to seek for one whom I know not and yet know; and the way is
long and dark." Then she forbore to ask him more, and fell to
pondering sadly; so after they had sate awhile, he rose up and loosed
the child's arms from him, k