At the end of the broad walk, they stood still to take breath. Grace cast her eyes into the thick shade of the trees and shrubs, and saw no cause for fear; but as the wind blew through the leaves and branches, she could fancy she heard voices, first on her right hand, and then on her left. As she had feared, the moon was now quite hid by clouds, and the pale light of the stars could not shine through the gloom of the nut-walk. “Pray let us go now, Tom,” said Grace, as she clung to him. “Why do you stand so still? Hark! what _is_ that noise? Oh, Tom, pray come home; there it is again!” “Dear Grace,” said Tom, “do not fear, it is only a bird; let us stay a short time, and perhaps we may see it.” “Oh,” said Grace, “it must be a great ugly bird, to make such a noise as that, and I do not wish to see it.” “No, it is not very great or very ugly,” said Tom; “and I know you will want to see it, when I tell you that it is an owl; and I dare say it is the same that Smith told me of, which has its nest in the old oak.” “Oh, is it?” said Grace: “there it is again, Hoot! hoot! hoot!” “Hush,” said Tom; “come a step or two this way: now look, do not you see him?” “Where?” said Grace, “on that bare branch of the yew? O dear! I never saw such a bird before: what a large round head he has!” “And look at his beak,” said Tom, “in the shape of a hook, that is for him to tear his prey with. There, that cloud has blown over, and we can see him well. He is quite brisk now: I should like to see him dart on a bird or a mouse.” [Illustration: “O dear! I never saw such a bird before: what a large round head he has!”] “I should not,” said Grace; “for though it is no worse than for us to eat cows and sheep, yet his sharp claws must hurt them so much, and I could not bear to hear them squeak.” “Nor I,” said Tom. “Well, the old man has flown away now, so we had better go home.” “Did you ever see an owl before, Tom?” said Grace. “Yes, once, a long while ago, when I was at play in the wood. I was going to hide in the trunk of an old tree, but when I put my head in, I heard such a noise, and looking up, I saw a large owl: he flapped his wings, and looked so fierce, that I ran away; and mamma told me a great deal about owls, when I got home.” “We must not run over the lawn, Tom,” said Grace, “for the dew is so thick.” “Well, here we are at the door, quite safe,” said Tom: “now you will not be afraid when you hear an owl hoot again.” “Oh, no,” said Grace, “I shall not, indeed.” JOHN GRANT’S RETURN FROM SEA. At a small farm-house, a long way from any large town, lived an old man and his wife, whose names were James and Kate Grant. They had had five sons, who were now all grown up, and had left their home to earn their own bread. One had gone to sea, but had not been heard of for four or five years, so that it was thought he must be dead.