'If you're afraid, say so; and you needn't come in anyway--but I'm
going on.'

The man who was going for the pig put us down at a gate quite near
the tower--at least it looked so until we began to walk again. We
thanked him, and he said--

'Quite welcome,' and drove off.

We were rather quiet going through the wood. What we had heard
made us very anxious to see the tower-- all except Alice, who would
keep talking about tea, though not a greedy girl by nature. None
of the others encouraged her, but Oswald thought himself that we
had better be home before dark.

As we went up the path through the wood we saw a poor wayfarer with
dusty bare feet sitting on the bank.

He stopped us and said he was a sailor, and asked for a trifle to
help him to get back to his ship.

I did not like the look of him much myself, but Alice said, 'Oh,
the poor man, do let's help him, Oswald.' So we held a hurried
council, and decided to give him the milk sixpence. Oswald had it
in his purse, and he had to empty the purse into his hand to find
the sixpence, for that was not all the money he had, by any means.
Noel said afterwards that he saw the wayfarer's eyes fastened
greedily upon the shining pieces as Oswald returned them to his
purse. Oswald has to own that he purposely let the man see that he