Now, at once, he was calm again.
For he knew where he was.

This was the line fence between the Place's upper section and the land of the next neighbor.
All he need do was to walk along in the shelter of it, touching the rails now and then to make certain of not straying, until he should come out on the road, at the gate lodge.

It was absurdly easy; compared to what he had been undergoing.

Besides, the lee of the fence afforded a certain shelter from wind and snow.

The child realized he had been turned about in the dark; and had been going in the wrong direction.
But now, at last, his course seemed plain to him.
So he set off briskly, close to the fence;--and directly away from the nearby road.
For another half-hour he continued his inexplicably long tramp; always buoyed up by the hope of coming to the road in a few more steps; and doggedly sure of his bearings.