nn; and charging Darby neither to make a
noise nor leave her alone, no matter what might happen, the dwarf crept
cautiously forward--stealthy in his movements as a cat stalking a
mouse--to ascertain whether there was any safe cover to which he could
convey the children.

From the front of the inn the lamplight streamed through the uncurtained
windows, shining cheerily on the wet cobble-stones of the sloppy
courtyard, and now and again a shrill voice pierced the silence of the
night as a woman's figure moved to and fro within the warmly-glowing
kitchen. But outside there was no sign of life; all was still except for
the occasional shuffling of the horses' feet in the stable, the slow,
deep breathing of the cows in an adjacent shed; and Bambo became bolder.
He peeped in at this window, he peered within that door, until at length
he found what he wanted--an empty house with plenty of clean, dry straw
strewn upon its floor.

In summer it had probably been used for housing the calves which were
now wandering at will over the wide, wet pasture-lands, having arrived
at an age when they could be promoted to share the privations without
enjoying any of the comforts of the grown-up creatures belonging to the
establishment. No one was likely to have an errand there now that its
former occupants were away. In any case, nobody would be about before
morning, Bambo reasoned, and by day-dawn he and his charges would have
once more taken the road for Firgrove.

Gently and carefully he raised Joan from her bed beside the haystack,
fearing that if she awoke she might make a noise. She did awake,
however, sat up, looked all round in a frightened fashion, then began to
whimper. Drawing a fold of shawl across her mouth and whispering to
Darby to keep close, the dwarf carried her as swiftly and silently as
possible to the shelter which he had discovered. There, snugly curled up
among the clean, dry straw like kittens in a basket, the little ones
were both soon sound asleep.

But Bambo could not sleep, although his weakness and weariness amounted
almost to pain. He was strangely wakeful, and eagerly on the alert for
the slightest sound which might indicate either disturbance or danger.
By-and-by, however, his head began to droop on his chest; his eyes were
closed, his long arms lay limply by his side. The present faded away
from him; he drifted back into the past again. Once more he was a child
at his mother's knee; his brow was bent upon