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871
By-and-by
the
men
finished
and
went
away
,
fastening
the
door
behind
them
and
taking
the
lantern
with
them
.
The
shivering
King
made
for
the
blankets
,
with
as
good
speed
as
the
darkness
would
allow
;
gathered
them
up
,
and
then
groped
his
way
safely
to
the
stall
.
Of
two
of
the
blankets
he
made
a
bed
,
then
covered
himself
with
the
remaining
two
.
872
He
was
a
glad
monarch
,
now
,
though
the
blankets
were
old
and
thin
,
and
not
quite
warm
enough
;
and
besides
gave
out
a
pungent
horsey
odour
that
was
almost
suffocatingly
powerful
.
873
Although
the
King
was
hungry
and
chilly
,
he
was
also
so
tired
and
so
drowsy
that
these
latter
influences
soon
began
to
get
the
advantage
of
the
former
,
and
he
presently
dozed
off
into
a
state
of
semi-consciousness
.
Then
,
just
as
he
was
on
the
point
of
losing
himself
wholly
,
he
distinctly
felt
something
touch
him
!
He
was
broad
awake
in
a
moment
,
and
gasping
for
breath
.
The
cold
horror
of
that
mysterious
touch
in
the
dark
almost
made
his
heart
stand
still
.
He
lay
motionless
,
and
listened
,
scarcely
breathing
.
But
nothing
stirred
,
and
there
was
no
sound
.
He
continued
to
listen
,
and
wait
,
during
what
seemed
a
long
time
,
but
still
nothing
stirred
,
and
there
was
no
sound
.
So
he
began
to
drop
into
a
drowse
once
more
,
at
last
;
and
all
at
once
he
felt
that
mysterious
touch
again
!
It
was
a
grisly
thing
,
this
light
touch
from
this
noiseless
and
invisible
presence
;
it
made
the
boy
sick
with
ghostly
fears
.
What
should
he
do
?
That
was
the
question
;
but
he
did
not
know
how
to
answer
it
.
Should
he
leave
these
reasonably
comfortable
quarters
and
fly
from
this
inscrutable
horror
?
But
fly
whither
?
He
could
not
get
out
of
the
barn
;
and
the
idea
of
scurrying
blindly
hither
and
thither
in
the
dark
,
within
the
captivity
of
the
four
walls
,
with
this
phantom
gliding
after
him
,
and
visiting
him
with
that
soft
hideous
touch
upon
cheek
or
shoulder
at
every
turn
,
was
intolerable
.
Отключить рекламу
874
But
to
stay
where
he
was
,
and
endure
this
living
death
all
night
--
was
that
better
?
No
.
What
,
then
,
was
there
left
to
do
?
Ah
,
there
was
but
one
course
;
he
knew
it
well
--
he
must
put
out
his
hand
and
find
that
thing
!
875
It
was
easy
to
think
this
;
but
it
was
hard
to
brace
himself
up
to
try
it
.
Three
times
he
stretched
his
hand
a
little
way
out
into
the
dark
,
gingerly
;
and
snatched
it
suddenly
back
,
with
a
gasp
--
not
because
it
had
encountered
anything
,
but
because
he
had
felt
so
sure
it
was
just
going
to
.
But
the
fourth
time
,
he
groped
a
little
further
,
and
his
hand
lightly
swept
against
something
soft
and
warm
.
This
petrified
him
,
nearly
,
with
fright
;
his
mind
was
in
such
a
state
that
he
could
imagine
the
thing
to
be
nothing
else
than
a
corpse
,
newly
dead
and
still
warm
.
He
thought
he
would
rather
die
than
touch
it
again
.
But
he
thought
this
false
thought
because
he
did
not
know
the
immortal
strength
of
human
curiosity
.
In
no
long
time
his
hand
was
tremblingly
groping
again
--
against
his
judgment
,
and
without
his
consent
--
but
groping
persistently
on
,
just
the
same
.
It
encountered
a
bunch
of
long
hair
;
he
shuddered
,
but
followed
up
the
hair
and
found
what
seemed
to
be
a
warm
rope
;
followed
up
the
rope
and
found
an
innocent
calf
!
--
for
the
rope
was
not
a
rope
at
all
,
but
the
calf
's
tail
.
876
The
King
was
cordially
ashamed
of
himself
for
having
gotten
all
that
fright
and
misery
out
of
so
paltry
a
matter
as
a
slumbering
calf
;
but
he
need
not
have
felt
so
about
it
,
for
it
was
not
the
calf
that
frightened
him
,
but
a
dreadful
non-existent
something
which
the
calf
stood
for
;
and
any
other
boy
,
in
those
old
superstitious
times
,
would
have
acted
and
suffered
just
as
he
had
done
.
877
The
King
was
not
only
delighted
to
find
that
the
creature
was
only
a
calf
,
but
delighted
to
have
the
calf
's
company
;
for
he
had
been
feeling
so
lonesome
and
friendless
that
the
company
and
comradeship
of
even
this
humble
animal
were
welcome
.
And
he
had
been
so
buffeted
,
so
rudely
entreated
by
his
own
kind
,
that
it
was
a
real
comfort
to
him
to
feel
that
he
was
at
last
in
the
society
of
a
fellow-creature
that
had
at
least
a
soft
heart
and
a
gentle
spirit
,
whatever
loftier
attributes
might
be
lacking
.
So
he
resolved
to
waive
rank
and
make
friends
with
the
calf
.
Отключить рекламу
878
While
stroking
its
sleek
warm
back
--
for
it
lay
near
him
and
within
easy
reach
--
it
occurred
to
him
that
this
calf
might
be
utilised
in
more
ways
than
one
.
Whereupon
he
re-arranged
his
bed
,
spreading
it
down
close
to
the
calf
;
then
he
cuddled
himself
up
to
the
calf
's
back
,
drew
the
covers
up
over
himself
and
his
friend
,
and
in
a
minute
or
two
was
as
warm
and
comfortable
as
he
had
ever
been
in
the
downy
couches
of
the
regal
palace
of
Westminster
.
879
Pleasant
thoughts
came
at
once
;
life
took
on
a
cheerfuller
seeming
880
He
was
free
of
the
bonds
of
servitude
and
crime
,
free
of
the
companionship
of
base
and
brutal
outlaws
;
he
was
warm
;
he
was
sheltered
;
in
a
word
,
he
was
happy
.
The
night
wind
was
rising
;
it
swept
by
in
fitful
gusts
that
made
the
old
barn
quake
and
rattle
,
then
its
forces
died
down
at
intervals
,
and
went
moaning
and
wailing
around
corners
and
projections
--
but
it
was
all
music
to
the
King
,
now
that
he
was
snug
and
comfortable
:
let
it
blow
and
rage
,
let
it
batter
and
bang
,
let
it
moan
and
wail
,
he
minded
it
not
,
he
only
enjoyed
it
.
He
merely
snuggled
the
closer
to
his
friend
,
in
a
luxury
of
warm
contentment
,
and
drifted
blissfully
out
of
consciousness
into
a
deep
and
dreamless
sleep
that
was
full
of
serenity
and
peace
.
The
distant
dogs
howled
,
the
melancholy
kine
complained
,
and
the
winds
went
on
raging
,
whilst
furious
sheets
of
rain
drove
along
the
roof
;
but
the
Majesty
of
England
slept
on
,
undisturbed
,
and
the
calf
did
the
same
,
it
being
a
simple
creature
,
and
not
easily
troubled
by
storms
or
embarrassed
by
sleeping
with
a
king
.