ootsteps on the mast; it was
for the ear what a moonless night is to the eye; but for all that Dick
went cautiously, slipping from one big trunk to another, and looking
sharply about him as he went. Suddenly a doe passed like a shadow
through the underwood in front of him, and he paused, disgusted at the
chance. This part of the wood had been certainly deserted, but now that
the poor deer had run, she was like a messenger he should have sent
before him to announce his coming; and instead of pushing farther, he
turned him to the nearest well-grown tree, and rapidly began to climb.

Luck had served him well. The oak on which he had mounted was one of the
tallest in that quarter of the wood, and easily out-topped its
neighbours by a fathom and a half; and when Dick had clambered into the
topmost fork and clung there, swinging dizzily in the great wind, he
saw behind him the whole fenny plain as far as Kettley, and the Till
wandering among woody islets, and in front of him the white line of
high-road winding through the forest. The boat had been righted--it was
even now midway on the ferry. Beyond that there was no sign of man, nor
aught moving but the wind. He was about to descend, when, taking a last
view, his eye lit upon a string of moving points about the middle of the
fen. Plainly a small troop was threading the causeway, and that at a
good pace; and this gave him some concern as he shinned vigorously down
the trunk and returned across the wood for his companion.

CHAPTER IV

A GREENWOOD COMPANY

Matcham was well rested and revived; and the two lads, winged by what
Dick had seen, hurried through the remainder of the outwood, crossed the
road in safety, and began to mount into the high ground of Tunstall
Forest. The trees grew more and more in groves, with heathy places in
between, sandy, gorsy, and dotted with old yews. The ground became more
and more uneven, full of pits and hillocks. And with every step of the
ascent the wind still blew the shriller, and the trees bent before the
gusts like fishing-rods.

They had just entered one of the clearings, when Dick suddenly clapped
down upon his face among the brambles, and began to crawl slowly
backward towards the shelter of the grove. Matcham, in great
bewilderment, for he could see no reason for this flight, still imitated
his companion's course; and it was not until they had gained the harbour
of a thicket that he turned and begged him to explain.

For