His eyes were wide with fright.

His heart beat so hard in his throat he thought he would surely die before he could reach the cabin.

At every step the light seemed to be growing dimmer and the thicket denser, although he thought he certainly must have been running long enough to have reached the clearing.

Still he ran on, and on, and on.

The recollection of one of Mammy's stories flashed across his mind.
[Illustration: The ganders had chased him around] Once a man had lost his way in this wood, and the ganders had chased him around and around until daylight.