A little beyond there was a dip in the ground, where
a streamlet soaked among dead leaves; and beyond that,
again, the trees were better grown and stood wider,
and oak and beech began to take the place of willow
and elm. The continued tossing and pouring of
the wind among the leaves sufficiently concealed the
sounds of his footsteps on the mast; it was for the
ear what a moonless night is to the eye; but for all
that Dick went cautiously, slipping from one big trunk
to another, and looking sharply about him as he went.
Suddenly a doe passed like a shadow through the underwood
in front of him, and he paused, disgusted at the chance.
This part of the wood had been certainly deserted,
but now that the poor deer had run, she was like a
messenger he should have sent before him to announce
his coming; and instead of pushing farther, he turned
him to the nearest well-grown tree, and rapidly began
to climb.
Luck had served him well. The oak on which he
had mounted was one of the tallest in that quarter
of the wood, and easily out-topped its neighbours
by a fathom and a half; and when Dick had clambered
into the topmost fork and clung there, swinging dizzily
in the great wind, he saw behind him the whole fenny
plain as far as Kettley, and the Till wandering among
woody islets, and in front of him, the white line
of high-road winding through the forest. The
boat had been righted—it was even now midway
on the ferry. Beyond that there was no sign
of man, nor aught moving but the wind. He was
about to descend, when, taking a last view, his eye
lit upon a string of moving points about the middle
of the fen. Plainly a small troop was threading
the causeway, and that at a good pace; and this gave
him some concern as he shinned vigorously down the
trunk and returned across the wood for his companion.
CHAPTER IV—A GREENWOOD COMPANY
Matcham was well rested and revived; and the two lads,
winged by what Dick had seen, hurried through the
remainder of the outwood, crossed the road in safety,
and began to mount into the high ground of Tunstall
Forest. The trees grew more and more in groves,
with heathy places in between, sandy, gorsy, and dotted
with old yews. The ground became more and more
uneven, full of pits and hillocks. And with every
step of the ascent the wind still blew the shriller,
and the trees bent before the gusts like fishing-rods.
They had just entered one of the clearings, when Dick
suddenly clapped down upon his face among the brambles,
and began to crawl slowly backward towards the shelter
of the grove. Matcham, in great bewilderment,
for he could see no reason for this flight, still
imitated his companion’s course; and it was not
until they had gained the harbour of a thicket that
he turned and begged him to explain.
