And next he had a fright ; for , as he scrambled up a sandy brow -- whirr-poof-poof-cock-cock-kick -- something went off in his face , with a most horrid noise . He thought the ground had blown up , and the end of the world come . And when he opened his eyes -LRB- for he shut them very tight -RRB- it was only an old cock-grouse , who had been washing himself in sand , like an Arab , for want of water ; and who , when Tom had all but trodden on him , jumped up with a noise like the express train , leaving his wife and children to shift for themselves , like an old coward , and went off , screaming `` Cur-ru-u-uck , cur-ru-u-uck -- murder , thieves , fire -- cur-u-uck-cock-kick -- the end of the world is come -- kick-kick - cock-kick . '' He was always fancying that the end of the world was come , when anything happened which was farther off than the end of his own nose . But the end of the world was not come , any more than the twelfth of August was ; though the old grouse-cock was quite certain of it . So the old grouse came back to his wife and family an hour afterwards , and said solemnly , `` Cock-cock-kick ; my dears , the end of the world is not quite come ; but I assure you it is coming the day after to-morrow -- cock . '' But his wife had heard that so often that she knew all about it , and a little more . And , besides , she was the mother of a family , and had seven little poults to wash and feed every day ; and that made her very practical , and a little sharp-tempered ; so all she answered was : `` Kick-kick-kick -- go and catch spiders , go and catch spiders -- kick . '' So Tom went on and on , he hardly knew why ; but he liked the great wide strange place , and the cool fresh bracing air . But he went more and more slowly as he got higher up the hill ; for now the ground grew very bad indeed . Instead of soft turf and springy heather , he met great patches of flat limestone rock , just like ill-made pavements , with deep cracks between the stones and ledges , filled with ferns ; so he had to hop from stone to stone , and now and then he slipped in between , and hurt his little bare toes , though they were tolerably tough ones ; but still he would go on and up , he could not tell why . What would Tom have said if he had seen , walking over the moor behind him , the very same Irishwoman who had taken his part upon the road ? But whether it was that he looked too little behind him , or whether it was that she kept out of sight behind the rocks and knolls , he never saw her , though she saw him . And now he began to get a little hungry , and very thirsty ; for he had run a long way , and the sun had risen high in heaven , and the rock was as hot as an oven , and the air danced reels over it , as it does over a limekiln , till everything round seemed quivering and melting in the glare . But he could see nothing to eat anywhere , and still less to drink . The heath was full of bilberries and whimberries ; but they were only in flower yet , for it was June . And as for water ; who can find that on the top of a limestone rock ? Now and then he passed by a deep dark swallow-hole , going down into the earth , as if it was the chimney of some dwarfs house underground ; and more than once , as he passed , he could hear water falling , trickling , tinkling , many many feet below . How he longed to get down to it , and cool his poor baked lips ! But , brave little chimney-sweep as he was , he dared not climb down such chimneys as those .
XXXXX he went on and on , till his head spun round with the heat , and he thought he heard church-bells ringing a long way off .
So after behind besides by into next till upon with