I took some of my provisions and wandered off, to avoid being invited to supper. The moon and the stars were out, but I chose to grope my way into the densest part of the forest and sit there in the dark. Besides, it was more sheltered there. How peaceful the earth was, and the air too! It was growing chilly, with frost on the ground. From time to time came a faint crackling in the straw, the squeak of a mouse, the flapping of a crow above the treetops- then complete silence again.