led toward the great forest with its endless trees and bogs?

Sydney could not answer these questions, and by way of relieving the
buzzing worry in his own brain, he turned to Pan and became a
questioner.

"Where are we going to sleep to-night?"

"Eh?"

"Where are we going to sleep to-night?"

Pan took off his hat and scratched his head.

"I never thought of that," he said.

"We can't go on walking all night."

"Can't we?"

"Of course we can't. We shall have to knock at some cottage, and ask
them to give us a bed."

"But they won't," said Pan, sagely enough. "'Tarn't likely at this time
o' night; I wish we could find a haystack."

Pan's wish did not obtain fulfilment, and the two lads tramped on along
the lonely road for quite a couple of hours longer, when hunger began to
combine with weariness; and these two at last made themselves so plainly
heard, that Sydney came to a full stop.

"Yes?" said Pan.

"I did not speak, I was only thinking," said Sydney, drearily.

"What were you thinking, Master Syd?"

"That all this is very stupid, and that we should be ever so much more
comfortable in bed."

Pan sighed.

"Oh, I dunno," he said. "I shouldn't, on'y my legs ache ever so."

"We ought to have brought a lot of cold meat and bread with us, Pan."

"Ah! wouldn't it be good now!"

"How long do you think it will be before morning, so that we can get to
a town, and buy some bread and milk?"

"I dunno, Master Syd. It can't be late yet, and it's ever so far to a
town this way, 'cause it's all forest for miles and miles."

They were tramping on again now, but in a more irregular way. There was
none of the vigorous pace for pace that had marked the beginning of
their flight, and as the road grew more rough their steps began to err,
and sometimes one, sometimes the other was a little in advance.

"Don't you wish you were back in your bed, Pan?" said Sydney at last.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because father would be standing there with the rope's-end."

This was so much to the point that Sydney did not try to pursue that
vein of conversation, and they again travelled on in silence till Pan
spoke--

"Wish you were back in your bed, Master Syd?"

"No," said the latter sharply.

"Course you don't; 'cause your uncle would be one side o' the bed and
the captain the other, and that would be worse than being here, wouldn't
it?"

No answer.

"You'd ketch it, wouldn't you, Master Syd?"

Still no ans