hree violent
blows on the door of his room.

It was the host who had come to tell him that midnight had struck.

"Are my companions ready?" asked the puppet.

"Ready! Why, they left two hours ago."

"Why were they in such a hurry?"

"Because the Cat had received a message to say that her eldest kitten
was ill with chilblains on his feet and was in danger of death."

"Did they pay for the supper?"

"What are you thinking of? They are too well educated to dream of
offering such an insult to a gentleman like you."

"What a pity! It is an insult that would have given me so much
pleasure!" said Pinocchio, scratching his head. He then asked:

"And where did my good friends say they would wait for me?"

"At the Field of Miracles, tomorrow morning at daybreak."

Pinocchio paid a sovereign for his supper and that of his companions,
and then left.

Outside the inn it was so pitch dark that he had almost to grope his
way, for it was impossible to see a hand's breadth in front of him. Some
night-birds flying across the road from one hedge to the other brushed
Pinocchio's nose with their wings as they passed, which caused him so
much terror that, springing back, he shouted: "Who goes there?" and the
echo in the surrounding hills repeated in the distance: "Who goes there?
Who goes there?"

As he was walking along he saw a little insect shining dimly on the
trunk of a tree, like a night-light in a lamp of transparent china.

"Who are you?" asked Pinocchio.

"I am the ghost of the Talking-Cricket," answered the insect in a low
voice, so weak and faint that it seemed to come from the other world.

"What do you want with me?" said the puppet.

"I want to give you some advice. Go back and take the four sovereigns
that you have left to your poor father, who is weeping and in despair
because you have not returned to him."

"By tomorrow my papa will be a gentleman, for these four sovereigns will
have become two thousand."

"Don't trust to those who promise to make you rich in a day. Usually
they are either mad or rogues! Give ear to me, and go back, my boy."

"On the contrary, I am determined to go on."

"The hour is late!"

"I am determined to go on."

"The night is dark!"

"I am determined to go on."

"The road is dangerous!"

"I am determined to go on."

"Remember that boys who are bent on following their caprices, and will
have their own way, sooner or later repent it."

"Always the same stories. Good