166 BEYOND THE BLUE MOUNTAINS.

Oh, what a terrible walk that was! Never to his dymg day—
never in all his future happy life—could Buttercup forget it—the cold
of it, the sharpness of it, the steep and uneven ground, the hidden
rocks and stones which hurt his feet and cut his hands. Oh, there
never was such a cruel walk as this! and surely, never before such an
unhappy little boy as the one who followed Mrs. Discipline.

“On! on!” she called; “what are you loitering for? On, on, to
the top! I have no time to spare if you have.”

More than once during that terrible ascent poor little Buttercup
could not help wishing that he had gone into the marble halls with
Featherpate, and had risked the finding of the stairs which would lead
into Mr. Penalty’s house.

“ Anything would have been better than this,” he murmured; but
regrets were useless now, and there was nothing for him but to climb
on to the top of the mountain.

Thanks to Mrs. Discipline, he did not lose his way ; and at last—at
last the summit of the hill was reached.

“Here we are!’ she exclaimed. ‘‘Do you see that cottage with
the one little spark of light in it? that light comes from my father’s lamp.
He seldom goes to bed at night, for he never knows at what time,
either day or night, he may be required. Go to him now, Buttercup—
Pll leave you in his hands—go to him at once.”

“ But I—I’m afraid to go,” said Buttercup. ‘“‘ Won’t you—won’t
you come with me?”

“Ha! ha!” laughed Mrs. Discipline, ‘‘ that would be a very funny
arrangement. No, no, my child; I never interfere with my father.
Good-bye ; you'll probably be back in the evening. Good-bye, at any
- rate, for the present.”

Buttercup turned round to say something more, but Mrs. Discipline
had vanished. There was nothing for it, therefore, but to go forward to
the tiny shining star which illumined one of Mr. Penalty’s windows.

“T must do it quickly, or I shall never do it at all,” thought the
child. He ran, therefore, along a little winding path and knocked at
a small green door. A voice inside was singing, and these were the
words of the song :—