`` Ah ! '' he thought , `` where there is a church there will be houses and people ; and , perhaps , some one will give me a bit and a sup . '' So he set off again , to look for the church ; for he was sure that he heard the bells quite plain . And in a minute more , when he looked round , he stopped again , and said , `` Why , what a big place the world is ! '' And so it was ; for , from the top of the mountain he could see -- what could he not see ? Behind him , far below , was Harthover , and the dark woods , and the shining salmon river ; and on his left , far below , was the town , and the smoking chimneys of the collieries ; and far , far away , the river widened to the shining sea ; and little white specks , which were ships , lay on its bosom . Before him lay , spread out like a map , great plains , and farms , and villages , amid dark knots of trees . They all seemed at his very feet ; but he had sense to see that they were long miles away . And to his right rose moor after moor , hill after hill , till they faded away , blue into blue sky . But between him and those moors , and really at his very feet , lay something , to which , as soon as Tom saw it , he determined to go , for that was the place for him . A deep , deep green and rocky valley , very narrow , and filled with wood ; but through the wood , hundreds of feet below him , he could see a clear stream glance . Oh , if he could but get down to that stream ! Then , by the stream , he saw the roof of a little cottage , and a little garden set out in squares and beds . And there was a tiny little red thing moving in the garden , no bigger than a fly . As Tom looked down , he saw that it was a woman in a red petticoat . Ah ! perhaps she would give him something to eat . And there were the church-bells ringing again . Surely there must be a village down there . Well , nobody would know him , or what had happened at the Place .
The news could not have got there yet , even XXXXX Sir John had set all the policemen in the county after him ; and he could get down there in five minutes .
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