Profound silence; silence so deep that even their breathings were
conspicuous in the hush. Tom shouted. The call went echoing down
the empty aisles and died out in the distance in a faint sound that
resembled a ripple of mocking laughter.
Oh, don t do it again, Tom, it is too horrid, said Becky.
It is horrid, but I better, Becky; they might hear us, you know, and
he shouted again.
The might was even a chillier horror than the ghostly laughter, it so
confessed a perishing hope. The children stood still and listened; but
there was no result. Tom turned upon the back track at once, and hurried
his steps. It was but a little while before a certain indecision in his
manner revealed another fearful fact to Becky he could not find his way
back!
Oh, Tom, you didn t make any marks!
Becky, I was such a fool! Such a fool! I never thought we might want to
come back! No I can t find the way. It s all mixed up.
Tom, Tom, we re lost! we re lost! We never can get out of this awful
place! Oh, why _did_ we ever leave the others!
She sank to the ground and burst into such a frenzy of crying that Tom
was appalled with the idea that she might die, or lose her reason. He
sat down by her and put his arms around her; she buried her face in
his bosom, she clung to him, she poured out her terrors, her unavailing
regrets, and the far echoes turned them all to jeering laughter. Tom
begged her to pluck up hope again, and she said she could not. He fell
to blaming and abusing himself for getting her into this miserable
situation; this had a better effect. She said she would try to hope
again, she would get up and follow wherever he might lead if only he
would not talk like that any more. For he was no more to blame than she,
she said.
So they moved on again aimlessly simply at random all they could do
was to move, keep moving. For a little while, hope made a show of
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