Chapter: THE SECOND NIGHT


The roosters crowed and the hens clucked; the farmer's wife began to get
breakfast, and the four children slept on. Dinner time came and went,
and still they slept, for it must be remembered that they had been awake
and walking during the whole night. In fact, it was nearly seven o'clock
in the evening when they awoke. Luckily, all the others awoke before
Benny.

"Can you hear me, Jess?" said Henry, speaking very low through the wall
of hay.

"Yes," answered Jess softly. "Let's make one big room of our nests."

No sooner said than done. The boy and girl worked quickly and quietly
until they could see each other. They pressed the hay back firmly until
they had made their way into Violet's little room. And then she in turn
groped until she found Benny.

"Hello, little Cinnamon!" whispered Violet playfully.

And Benny at once made up his mind to laugh instead of cry. But laughing
out loud was almost as bad, so Henry took his little brother on the hay
beside him and talked to him seriously.

"You're old enough now, Benny, to understand what I say to you. Now,
listen! When I tell you to _keep still_ after this, that means you're to
stop crying if you're crying, or stop laughing if you're laughing, and
be just as still as you possibly can. If you don't mind, you will be in
danger. Do you understand?"

"Don't I have to mind Jess and Violet too?" asked Benny.

"Absolutely!" said Henry. "You have to mind us all, every one of us!"

Benny thought a minute. "Can't I ask for what I want any more?" he said.

"Indeed you can!" cried Jess and Henry together. "What is it you want?"

"I'm _awful_ hungry," said Benny anxiously.

Henry's brow cleared. "Good old Benny," he said. "We're just going to
have supper--or is it breakfast?"

Jess drew out the fragrant loaf of bread. She cut it with Henry's
jackknife into four quarters, and she and Henry took the two crusty ends
themselves.

"That's because we have to be the strongest, and crusts make you
strong," explained Jess.

Violet looked at her older sister. She thought she knew why Jess took
the crust, but she did not speak.

"We will stay here till dark, and then we'll go on with our journey,"
said Henry cheerfully.

"I want a drink," announced Benny.

"A drink you shall have," Henry promised, "but you'll have to wait till
it's really dark. If we should creep out to the brook now, and any one
saw us--" He did not finish his sentence, but Benny realized that he
must wait.

He was much refreshed from his long sleep, and felt very lively. Violet
had all she could do to keep him amused, even with Cinnamon Bear and his
five brothers.

At last Henry peeped out. It was after nine o'clock. There were lights
in the farmhouse still, but they were all upstairs.

"We can at least get a drink now," he said. And the children crept
quietly to the noisy little brook not far from the haystack.

"Cup," said Benny.

"No, you'll have to lie down and drink with your mouth," Jess explained.
And so they did. Never did water taste so cool and delicious as it did
that night to the thirsty children.

When they had finished drinking they jumped the brook, ran quickly over
the fields to the wall, and once more found themselves on the road.

"If we meet any one," said Jess, "we must all crouch behind bushes until
he has gone by."

They walked along in the darkness with light hearts. They were no longer
tired or hungry. Their one thought was to get away from their
grandfather, if possible.

"If we can find a big town," said Violet, "won't it be better to stay in
than a little town?"

"Why?" asked Henry, puffing up the hill.

"Well, you see, there are so many people in a big town, nobody will
notice us--"

"And in a little village everyone would be talking about us," finished
Henry admiringly. "You've got brains, Violet!"

He had hardly said this, when a wagon was heard behind them in the
distance. It was coming from Middlesex. Without a word, the four
children sank down behind the bushes like frightened rabbits. They could
plainly hear their hearts beat. The horse trotted nearer, and then
began to walk up the hill.

"If we hear nothing in Townsend," they heard a man say, "we have plainly
done our duty."

It was the baker's voice!

"More than our duty," said the baker's wife, "tiring out a horse with
going a full day, from morning until night!"

There was silence as the horse pulled the creaky wagon.

"At least we will go on to Townsend tonight," continued the baker, "and
tell them to watch out. We need not go to Intervale, for they never
could walk so far."

"We are well rid of them, I should say," replied his wife. "They may not
have come this way. The milkman did not see them, did he?"

The baker's reply was lost, for the horse had reached the hilltop, where
he broke into a canter.

It was some minutes before the children dared to creep out of the bushes
again.

"One thing is sure," said Henry, when he got his breath. "We will not go
to Townsend."

"And we _will_ go to Intervale," said Jess.

With a definite goal in mind at last, the children set out again with a
better spirit. They walked until two o'clock in the morning, stopping
often this time to rest and to drink from the horses' watering troughs.
And then they came upon a fork in the road with a white signpost shining
in the moonlight.

"Townsend, four miles; Intervale, six miles," read Henry aloud. "Any one
feel able to walk six more miles?"

He grinned. No one had the least idea how far they had already walked.

"We'll go that _way_ at least," said Jess finally.

"That we will," agreed Henry, picking up his brother for a change, and
carrying him "pig-back."

Violet went ahead. The new road was a pleasant woody one, with grass
growing in the middle. The children could not see the grass, but they
could feel it as they walked. "Not many people pass this way, I guess,"
remarked Violet. Just then she caught her toe in something and almost
fell, but Jess caught her.

The two girls stooped down to examine the obstruction.

"Hay!" said Jess.

"Hay!" repeated Violet.

"Hey!" cried Henry, coming up. "What did you say?"

"It must have fallen off somebody's load," said Jess.

"We'll take it with us," Henry decided wisely. "Load on all you can
carry, Jess."

"For Benny," thought Violet to herself. So the odd little party trudged
on for nearly three hours, laden with hay, until they found that the
road ended in a cart path through the woods.

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Jess, almost ready to cry with disappointment.

"What's the matter?" demanded Henry in astonishment. "Isn't the woods a
good place to sleep? We can't sleep in the road, you know."

"It does seem nice and far away from people," admitted Jess, "and it's
almost morning."

As they stood still at the entrance to the woods, they heard the rumble
of a train. It roared down the valley at a great rate and passed them on
the other side of the woods, thundering along toward the city.

"Never mind the train, either," remarked Henry. "It isn't so _awfully_
near; and even if it were, it couldn't see us."

He set his brother down and peered into the woods. It was very warm.

"Lizzen!" said Benny.

"Listen!" echoed Violet.

"More water!" Benny cried, catching his big brother by the hand.

"It is only another brook," said Henry with a thankful heart. "He wants
a drink." The trickle of water sounded very pleasant to all the children
as they lay down once more to drink.

Benny was too sleepy to eat. Jess quickly found a dry spot thick with
moss between two stones. Upon this moss the three older children spread
the hay in the shape of an oval bed. Benny tumbled into it with a great
sigh of satisfaction, while his sisters tucked the hay around him.

"Pine needles up here, Jess," called Henry from the slope. Each of them
quickly scraped together a fragrant pile for a pillow and once more lay
down to sleep, with hardly a thought of fear.

"I only hope we won't have a thunderstorm," said Jess to herself, as she
shut her tired eyes.

And she did not open them for a long time, although the dark gray clouds
piled higher and more thickly over the sleeping children.

 The children leave the baker's town and arrive at a road, walking by the light of the moon. Henry says he can carry Benny a long way, but Violet thinks they should wake him up--they'll move faster with Benny on his feet. Benny isn't exactly amenable to this plan, but when Violet turns it into a game where Benny pretends to be a little bear, he's totally on board. The children walk past dark farmhouses, and after a long time, the sun begins to rise. They decide they need to bed down somewhere. Benny is already asleep again in Henry's arms. Violet finds a haystack, and Henry declares it a great place to sleep. Sure, Henry. Sounds great. The children make sleep nests in the haystack and fall asleep right away. They're super tired. When they wake up, everyone is hungry. Guess what's on the menu? Bread. That's it. Benny is thirsty, but Henry thinks they need to wait for dark to find water. At nightfall, they make their way to a water pump and drink their fill. As they set off on the road, Jessie says they should hide in the bushes if they hear anyone--and then they immediately hear someone. Good timing, Jessie. The children hide in the bushes as planned. A horse and cart approach, and wouldn't you know, it's the baker and his wife. They're looking for the children. They say they're planning to look in Greenfield and then give up looking, which is useful info for the kids. After the baker and his wife are out of sight, the children emerge from the bushes and continue down the road. Around 2 a.m., they come to a crossroads. One road leads to Greenfield, while the other goes to Silver City. Knowing the plans of the baker and his wife, they choose Silver City. Eventually, they come to a water fountain. It has three levels: one for people, one for horses, and one for dogs. Water fountains used to be way cooler, apparently. Everyone drinks some water, and then Benny starts to complain about feeling tired. Classic Benny. Henry decides they will sleep in the woods. Jessie thinks this sounds like a great plan since the woods seem deserted. Clearly these kids have never seen a horror movie. The kids make beds out of pine needles and prepare to go to sleep. As they drift off, Jessie observes that it looks like it might rain.

