It grew chilly, and they came to another forest. This seemed full of life. There were whiskings to and fro, chatterings up in the trees, rustlings among the branches, and now and then Tina heard a laugh.
Tina clung close to Sunny, and said, “I am afraid.”
“Oh, you needn’t be,” he said. “You mustn’t be afraid of anything you see, for you are perfectly safe now that you have your sunbonnet on; as soon as they see that, they will know who you are.”
Just then two beasts came dashing along. The first was a deer, and after it came a wolf, while another started up from among some bushes. They all rushed along, but the deer was ahead; and in a moment all three were out of sight.
“What is the matter?” asked Tina.
“They are in a hurry to get to Sunset Land before the sun goes down. The deer has despatches for China, and the wolf wants to get them away from him, so they won’t go off,” said Sunny.
“Politics, I suppose,” said Tina.
“Yes,” said he.
“I haven’t the least idea what politics are,” said Tina, “but it sounds something like that, when papa talks to Mr. Wright, and mamma says it is politics.”
Presently they saw, not far off, what at first looked like the stump of a tree; but, on coming up to it, Tina saw it was an old woman, all huddled up. She had a quantity of leaves spread out before her, and she was saying, over and over: