the
school, and to the entrance of Doctor Palmer's house; and, further on,
to the neighbouring town.

He was preparing to jump down, when again the sound of a footstep
checked and terrified him. If it were coming up from the village, the
passer-by would of course see him. If it were coming from the school,
the same result would be fatal to him. The only hope was, that it was
a retreating step of some one who had passed while his attention was
drawn off by the noise of those who were searching for him.

He stretched out his head and looked down the road. No one there. So
far he was safe. He looked up the road; and there was a well-known
figure, magnified and looking very gaunt in the moonlight. It was the
Doctor. But--and Harry could scarcely believe his eyes for joy--he was
going away from where his runaway pupil crouched trembling on the wall.
He must have passed just before he climbed up. The Doctor seemed to be
walking so perversely slow, actually strolling, Harry thought. When
would he turn the corner?

Fainter, however, grew the footsteps, and at length the portly figure
disappeared. And then, jumping hastily from the wall, with a slip on
to the road, and scrambling to pick himself up, Harry ran as hard as
his legs would carry him down towards Wilton village.

CHAPTER XIV.

AT SLEEP AT LAST.

Mingled feelings--Sore perplexity--Cherishing vengeance--'Ware the
dog--Want of reflection--In the churchyard--Footsteps--A strange bed.

He did not stop running till he had put nearly three-quarters of a mile
between him and the school. And then two considerations brought him to
a standstill. Firstly, he was out of breath; he could scarcely run a
step farther; and secondly, he was now close into the heart of the
village, and the groups of lounging figures he espied in the distance
warned him he must be careful how he proceeded. About two hundred
yards in advance was a public house--"The Blue Anchor;" and here, of
course, was a goodly knot of men, some inside drinking, some outside
smoking, and all making a most disreputable noise. There were also one
or two women in amongst the crowd, evidently searching for truant sons
or husbands, and Harry feared their inquisitive eyes even more than he
feared the men. For he remembered he was covered with dust and dirt
from his scramble; his hair all rough; hatless, and generally untidy.
Besides, what business had a boy of his age and station in life to be