And then come you in to dinner-time; for the Lord is always over you." I hastened to the place which he pointed out--a beautiful covert of birch-trees--but to sleep was out of the question, worn out though I was with haste and heat, and (worst of all) with horror.

In a soft mossy nest, where a breeze from the mountains played with the in and out ways of the wood, and the murmurous dream of genial insects now was beginning to drowse upon the air, and the heat of the sun could almost be seen thrilling through the alleys like a cicale's drum--here, in the middle of the languid peace, I waited for the terror of the rifle-crack.
For though Uncle Sam had spoken softly, and made so little of the peril he would meet, I had seen in his eyes some token of the deep wrath and strong indignation which had kept all his household and premises safe.
And it seemed a most ominous sign that Firm had never said a word, but grasped his gun, and slowly got in front of his grandfather..