He pictured it all so plainly to himself, that he smiled evenwhile the tears ran down his cheeks.
  The little birds in the chestnut-trees twittered, "Tweet,tweet;" they were so happy, although they had seen the funeral; butthey seemed as if they knew that the dead man was now in heaven, andthat he had wings much larger and more beautiful than their own; andhe was happy now, because he had been good here on earth, and theywere glad of it. John saw them fly away out of the green trees intothe wide world, and he longed to fly with them; but first he cut out alarge wooden cross, to place on his father's grave; and when hebrought it there in the evening, he found the grave decked out withgravel and flowers. Strangers had done this; they who had known thegood old father who was now dead, and who had loved him very much.
  Early the next morning, John packed up his little bundle ofclothes, and placed all his money, which consisted of fifty dollarsand a few shillings, in his girdle; with this he determined to try hisfortune in the world. But first he went into the churchyard; and, byhis father's grave, he offered up a prayer, and said, "Farewell."
  As he passed through the fields, all the flowers looked freshand beautiful in the warm sunshine, and nodded in the wind, as if theywished to say, "Welcome to the green wood, where all is fresh andbright."
  Then John turned to have one more look at the old church, in whichhe had been christened in his infancy, and where his father hadtaken him every Sunday to hear the service and join in singing thepsalms. As he looked at the old tower, he espied the ringer standingat one of the narrow openings, with his little pointed red cap onhis head, and shading his eyes from the sun with his bent arm. Johnnodded farewell to him, and the little ringer waved his red cap,laid his hand on his heart, and kissed his hand to him a great manytimes, to show that he felt kindly towards him, and wished him aprosperous journey.
  John continued his journey, and thought of all the wonderfulthings he should see in the large, beautiful world, till he foundhimself farther away from home than ever he had been before. He didnot even know the names of the places he passed through, and couldscarcely understand the language of the people he met, for he wasfar away, in a strange land. The first night he slept on a haystack,out in the fields, for there was no other bed for him; but it seemedto him so nice and comfortable that even a king need not wish for abetter. The field, the brook, the haystack, with the blue sky above,formed a beautiful sleeping-room. The green grass, with the little redand white flowers, was the carpet; the elder-bushes and the hedgesof wild roses looked like garlands on the walls; and for a bath hecould have the clear, fresh water of the brook; while the rushes bowedtheir heads to him, to wish him good morning and good evening. Themoon, like a large lamp, hung high up in the blue ceiling, and hehad no fear of its setting fire to his curtains. John slept here quitesafely all night; and when he awoke, the sun was up, and all thelittle birds were singing round him, "Good morning, good morning.Are you not up yet?"
  It was Sunday, and the bells were ringing for church. As thepeople went in, John followed them; he heard God's word, joined insinging the psalms, and listened to the preacher. It seemed to himjust as if he were in his own church, where he had been christened,and had sung the psalms with his father. Out in the churchyard wereseveral graves, and on some of them the grass had grown very high.John thought of his father's grave, which he knew at last would looklike these, as he was not there to weed and attend to it. Then heset to work, pulled up the high grass, raised the wooden crosses whichhad fallen down, and replaced the wreaths which had been blown awayfrom their places by the wind, thinking all the time, "Perhaps someone is doing the same for my father's grave, as I am not there to doit "
  Outside the church door stood an old beggar, leaning on hiscrutch. John gave him his silver shillings, and then he continuedhis journey, feeling lighter and happier than ever. Towards evening,the weather became very stormy, and he hastened on as quickly as hecould, to get shelter; but it was quite dark by the time he reacheda little lonely church which stood on a hill. "I will go in here,"he said, "and sit down in a corner; for I am quite tired, and wantrest."
  So he went in, and seated himself; then he folded his hands, andoffered up his evening prayer, and was soon fast asleep anddreaming, while the thunder rolled and the lightning flashedwithout. When he awoke, it was still night; but the storm hadceased, and the moon shone in upon him through the windows. Then hesaw an open coffin standing in the centre of the church, whichcontained a dead man, waiting for burial. John was not at all timid;he had a good conscience, and he knew also that the dead can neverinjure any one. It is living wicked men who do harm to others. Twosuch wicked persons stood now by the dead man, who had been brought tothe church to be buried. Their evil intentions were to throw thepoor dead body outside the church door, and not leave him to rest inhis coffin.
  "Why do you do this?"