It was so gray and old . Who knew how many wolves there might be hidden there ? Perhaps the very ones which killed the ram were still sitting there in a corner . Yes , it was not at all safe here , and there were no other people to be seen in the neighbourhood . It would be horrible to be eaten up here in the daylight , thought Walter to himself ; and the more he thought about it the uglier and grayer the old kiln looked , and the more horrible and dreadful it seemed to become the food of wolves . ` Shall I go back and say that I struck one wolf and it escaped ? ' thought Walter . ` Fie ! ' said his conscience , ` Do you not remember that a lie is one of the worst sins , both in the sight of God and man ? If you tell a lie to-day and say you struck a wolf , to-morrow surely it will eat you up . ' ` No , I will go to the kiln , ' thought Walter , and so he went . But he did not go quite near . He went only so near that he could see the ram 's blood which coloured the grass red , and some tufts of wool which the wolves had torn from the back of the poor animal . It looked so dreadful . ' I wonder what the ram thought when they ate him up , ' thought Walter to himself ; and just then a cold shiver ran through him from his collar right down to his boots . ` It is better for me to beat the drum , ' he thought to himself again , and so he began to beat it . But it sounded horrid , and an echo came out from the kiln that seemed almost like the howl of a wolf . The drumsticks stiffened in Walter 's hands , and he thought now they are coming ... ! Yes , sure enough , just then a shaggy , reddish-brown wolf 's head looked out from under the kiln ! What did Walter do now ?
Yes , the brave Walter who alone could manage four , threw his drum far away , took XXXXX his heels and ran , and ran as fast as he could back to the mill .
If about at for from in like that through to