His heart beat wildly at the prospect of once more meeting his mother, after nearly four weeks' absence.

Annie Lee would welcome him; she would not believe that he was a thief.
He had been four days an inmate of the Reform School, and nothing but the hope of soon attaining his liberty had kept his spirits from drooping.

He had not for a moment despaired of getting away.
He reached the entrance to the wood, and taking a cart path, began to penetrate its hidden depths.

The night darkened upon him; he heard the owl screech his dismal note, and the whip-poor-will chant his cheery song.

A certain sense of security now pervaded his mind, for the darkness concealed him from the world, and he had placed six good miles between him and the prison, as he considered it.
He walked on, however, till he came to what seemed to be the end of the wood, and he hoped to reach the blue ocean he had seen in the distance before morning.