CHAPTER VIII

A PURSUIT IN THE DARK

Everychild thought perhaps he had been asleep a long time when he was
awakened by the sound of a clock in a distant tower striking the hour
of 1. He became quite wide awake.

He looked to his right and to his left. Hansel and Grettel were on one
side of him, sleeping deeply. Hansel was even snoring. The giant, on
his other side, lay motionless.

He looked to see if the Masked Lady had remained near him, but she was
nowhere to be seen. Mr. Literal also had disappeared.

Then he sat up suddenly, his heart thumping loudly. There was the
sound of hurrying feet on the road nearby. And there was something
about the sound . . . you could tell that it was some one who was lost,
or in trouble. Presently there was a sound of weeping too.

Everychild sat with his hands clasped about his knees, staring at the
road: and before long, there she was--a girl running as if she were in
great peril. And as she drew nearer Everychild felt quite sure he knew
who the girl was. He could not be sure how he knew. But a name came
into his mind, and he said to himself, "It is Cinderella."

She raced past him as if she were a leaf caught in the wind. Again he
heard her weeping. And then, without at all knowing what he intended
to do, he sprang to his feet and dashed down the road after her. It