wink at them. The shadows came streaming up from the sea and the dark
woods below in the hollow drew closer to them.

The Scarecrow seemed to lament the departure of the light. "Here, mind,"
he said to the two of them, "you saw me in my glory just now and don't
you forget it. I may be a knight in shining armour after all. It only
depends upon the point of view."

"So it does," said Mr. Pidgen, taking his hat off, "you were very fine,
I shan't forget."


VI

They stood there in silence for a time....


VII

At last they turned back and walked slowly home, the intimacy of their
new friendship growing with their silence. Hugh was happier than he had
ever been before. Behind the quiet evening light he saw wonderful
prospects, a new life in which he might dream as he pleased, a new
friend to whom he might tell these dreams, a new confidence in his own
power....

But it was not to be.

That very night Mr. Pidgen died, very peacefully, in his sleep, from
heart failure. He had had, as he had himself said, a happy life.