26 BEYOND THE BLUE MOUNTAINS.

As these thoughts passed through his mind, he closed his tired
eyes, and also went into the land of dreams.

It was quite dark when the children awoke, and at first they
had some difficulty in remembering where they were.

Cowslip was the first to do so, and now she said, with a bitter ery,
“Oh, Clover, we have overslept ourselves, and the whole day is gone,
and we are nowhere near the Blue Mountains.”

Clover had to rub his own tired eyes before he could quite take in
Cowslip’s words.

“ Never mind, Cowslip,’” said Clover then, “we shall have heaps
of time, for the King never told us that we must reach the Blue
Mountains by to-night.”

“ But we cannot stay out in this dangerous, lonely place in the
dark,” said Cowslip. “Iam always terrified in the dark. What shall
we do, Clover? Oh, dear Clover, do let us go back to the Market
Gardener’s cottage. Do let’s beg of Bluebell to give us a bed each
for the night.”

“No,” said Clover, in a proud sort of way. “I will go forward
as much as you like, but back, never. That would be cowardly,
Cowslip. Come, give me your hand and let us start forward.”

“ But itis pitch dark,” said the little girl, “and I don’t see a
single step of the way. I am awfully frightened. If you won’t go
back to Bluebell’s cottage, we had better stay where we are for the
night.”

“No, we must not; there is a heavy dew falling. If you put
your hand on the grass now you will find it quite wet, and, besides,
there may be snakes and other dangerous creatures all round us. No,
we must not stay here.”

At the word snakes poor Cowslip sprang to her feet in terror.

The next moment she tottered back again, faint and crying.

“TJ am so tired and so thirsty,” she said.

“Let us walk on a little,’ said Clover. “TI have got the map in
my pocket, and we are quite sure to meet with an inn before long.
The King has placed the inns so nicely along the road, that people are
never very long without finding one. You see, Cowslip, we are on the