fast as I could
into the dark. I soon got past the outbuildings of the farm, and then
I saw that the night was not very dark. The wind was blowing very
hard, and big black clouds were rolling across the sky under the moon.
It was a long way to the high-road, and to get there I had to cross a
wooden bridge which was out of repair. The rain of the last few days
had swelled the little river and the water splashed up on to the bridge
through the rotten planks. I began to get nervous because the water
and the wind between them made a noise that I had never heard before.
But I refused to be frightened, and ran across the slippery bridge as
quickly as I dared.

I got to the high-road sooner than I had expected to, and I turned to
the left as I had seen the farmer turn when he went to market. But a
little further along the road divided into two and I didn't know which
road to take. I ran a little way up one road and then a little way up
another. It was the road to the left that seemed to be the likely one.
I took it, and walked fast to make up for lost time.

In the distance I saw a black mass which covered the whole country. It
seemed to be coming slowly towards me, and for a moment I wanted to
turn back and run. A dog began to bark and that gave me a little
confidence, and almost directly afterwards I saw that the black mass in
front of me was a wood through which the road passed. When I got into
it the wind seemed to be rougher than ever. It blew in gusts, and the
trees struck at one another and rattled their branches, and moaned and
stooped down to get out of its way. I heard long whistling sounds as
the branches cracked and clattered and fell.

Then I heard steps behind me and felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned
round quickly but I saw nobody. Yet I was sure that somebody had
touched me with his finger, and the steps went on as though some
invisible person were walking round and round me. I began to run so
fast that I didn't know whether my feet were touching the ground or not.

The stones sprang out under my shoes and rattled behind me like a
little hailstorm. I had only one idea, and that was to run and run
until I got out of the forest.

At last I came to a clearing. It was lit up by a pale moon and the
tearing wind whirled heaps of leaves up and threw them down again, then
rolled them about and about, and turned them over in all directions.

I wanted to stop to get my breath, but the big trees were swinging
backwards and forwards with a deafening noise. Their shadows, which
looked like great black animals, threw themselves flat along the road
and then slipped away and hid behind the trees. Some of these shadows
had shapes which I recognized. But most of them hovered and jumped
about in front of me as though they wanted to prevent me from passing.
Some of them frightened me so that I took a little run, and jumped over
them. I was dreadfully afraid that they would catch at my feet.

The wind went down a little, and rain began to fall in large drops. I
had got to the other side of the clearing, and when I came to a little
path which disappeared into the wood again, I saw a white wall at the
end of it. I went a little way along the path, and saw that it was a
house. Without thinking at all I knocked at the door. I wanted to ask
the people to shelter me until the wind stopped. I knocked a second
time, and heard somebody moving. I thought the door was going to be
opened, but a window was opened on the first floor. A man in a
night-cap called out, "Who is there?" I answered, "A little girl." He
seemed surprised. "A little girl?" he said, and asked me where I came
from, where I was going, and what I wanted. I had not expected all
these questions, and I said that I had come from the farm, but then
told a lie, and said that I was going to see my mother who was ill. I
asked him to let me into the house until the rain stopped. He told me
to