by L. T. Meade
CHAPTER XII.--LOST IN THE NEW FOREST.
Mrs. Lovel slept very soundly, and Phil did not disturb her when heopened the ponderous oak door of his bedroom, and clasping the tankardtightly in both hands went downstairs and out. It was very, very early,for Phil had mistaken the shining of the moon for the first light ofday. Not a soul was up at Avonsyde, but the little boy easily found ameans of exit, and in a few moments was running quickly down thestraight avenue which led into the forest. He was intensely happy andexcited, for the fragrance of his delightful dreams was stillsurrounding him, and he felt confident that if he only ran far enough hemust find that wonderful lady whose dress was greener than the trees andwhose face was so radiantly beautiful. The morning was damp and gloomy,for the moon set very soon after Phil started on his walk, and the sunhad no idea of getting up for another couple of hours. The forest, whichlooked so pleasant and cheery by day, was now all that was dark anddismal; so of course the first thing that happened to poor little Philwas completely to lose his way.
He possessed a very high spirit, and such small disadvantages asstumbling in the dark and tearing himself with unseen briers, andaltogether becoming a sadly chilled and damp little boy, could notquench the ardent hope which impelled him to go forward. He pushed onbravely, having a kind of confidence that the further he got fromAvonsyde the more likely he was to meet the lady. Presently the darknessgave place to a gray, dim light, and then, in an incredibly short spaceof time, the little boy found himself surrounded by a delicious goldenatmosphere. The sun climbed up into the heavens; the mist vanished;daylight and sunlight had come. Phil took off his cap, and leaningagainst a tree laughed with pleasure. It wanted three weeks toChristmas; but what a lovely morning, and how the sun glittered andsparkled on the frosty ground! Some shy robin-redbreasts hopped aboutand twittered gleefully; the squirrels were intensely busy crackingtheir breakfast-nuts; and Phil, raising his eyes to watch them,discovered that he was hungry. His hunger he could not gratify, but thethirst which also assailed him could be easily assuaged, for a brookbabbled noisily not many feet away. Phil ran to it, and dipping histankard into the water took a long draught. He had not an idea where hewas, but with the sun shining and the birds singing no part of theforest could be lonely, and he tripped on in gay spirits, hoping to seethe lady with the green dress coming to meet him through the trees. Hehad listened to many stories about the forest lady from Kitty. Sheappeared very, very seldom to any one, but when she did come she chose asolitary place and moment, for it was one of her unbroken rules never toreveal herself to two people together. Phil, remembering thispeculiarity of the beautiful lady, took care to avoid the high-road andto plunge deeper and deeper into the most shady recesses and the mostinfrequented paths. As he walked on, whether from exhaustion or fromhunger, or from an under-current of strong excitement, he became reallya little feverish; his heart beat a great deal too fast, and hisimagination was roused to an abnormal extent. He knew that he had losthis way, but as the hours went on he became more and more convinced thathe would find the lady, and of course when he saw her and looked in herface his troubles would be ended. He would pour out all his cares andall his longings into the ears of this wonderful being. She would soothehim; she would pity him; and, above all things, she would give him thatgolden store which would make his mother contented and happy.
"Perhaps she will carry me home too," thought little Phil, "for though Iam always making believe to be well, I am not really a strong boy, and Iam very tired now."
The hours went on, the daylight grew brighter, and then came anunexpected change. The sunny morning was treacherous, after all; darkclouds approached from the north; they covered the smiling and sunnysky, and then a cold rain which was half-sleet began to fallmercilessly. Phil had of course not dreamed of providing himself with agreat-coat, and though at first the trees supplied him with a certainamount of shelter, their branches, which were mostly bare, were soondrenched, and the little boy was wet through. He had climbed to the topof a rising knoll, and looking down through the driving rain he heard astream brawling loudly about forty feet below. He fancied that if he goton lower ground he might find shelter, so he ran as quickly as he couldin the direction of the hurrying water. Oh, horror! what had happened tohim? What was this? The ground shook under his little footsteps. When hetried to step either backward or forward he sank. Phil caught hisbreath, laughed a little because he did not want to cry, and said aloud:
"Kitty is quite right; there are bogs in the forest, and I'm in one."
He was a very brave child, and even his present desperate situation didnot utterly daunt him.
"Now I'm in real danger," he said aloud. "In some ways it's rather niceto be in real danger. Rupert and I used often to talk about it andwonder what we'd do, and Rupert always said: 'Phil, be sure when thetime comes that you don't lose your presence of mind.' Well, the timehas come now, and I must try to be very cool. When I stay perfectlystill I find that I don't sink--at least very little. Oh, how tired I am!I wish some one would come. I wish the rain would stop. I know I'll fallpresently, for I'm so fearfully tired. I wish the lady would come--I dowish she would! If she knew that I was in danger she might hurry tome--that is, if she's as kind and beautiful as Kitty tells me she is. Oh,dear! oh, dear! I know I shall fall soon. Well, if I do I'm certain tosink into the bog, and--Rupert will have Avonsyde. Oh, poor mother! howshe will wonder where I've got to! Now, I really don't want to sink in abog even for Rupert's sake, so I must keep my presence of mind and tryto be as cheerful as possible. Suppose I sing a little--that's muchbetter than crying and will make as much noise in case any one ispassing by."
So Phil raised a sweet and true little voice and tried to rival therobins. But a poor little half-starving boy stuck fast in a bog is sofar a remarkable spectacle that the robins themselves, coming out afterthe shower to dry their feathers, looked at him in great wonder. He wasa brave little boy and he sang sweetly, and they liked the music he madevery well; but what was he doing there? Perching themselves on theboughs of some low trees which grew near the brook, they glanced shylyat him out of their bright eyes, and then quite unknowingly performed alittle mission for his rescue. They flew to meet a lady whom they knewwell and from whose hand they often pecked crumbs, and they induced thislady to turn aside from her accustomed path and to follow them, as theyhopped and flew in front of her; for the lady was suddenly reminded bythe robins of some little birds at home for which she meant to gather aparticular weed which grew near the bog.
The rain was over, the sun was again shining brightly, when little Phil,tired, sick unto death, raised his eyes and saw, with the sunlightbehind her, a lady, graceful and gracious in appearance, coming down thepath. He did not notice whether her dress was gray or green; he onlyknew that to him she looked radiant and lovely.
"Oh, you have been a long time coming, but please save me now!" hesobbed, and then he did tumble into the bog, for he suddenly faintedaway.
