POOR John was very sad; for his father was soill， he had no hope of his recovery. John sat alonewith the sick man in the little room， and the lamphad nearly burnt out; for it was late in the night.
“You have been a good son， John，” said thesick father， “and God will help you on in the world.”He looked at him， as he spoke， with mild，earnest eyes， drew a deep sigh， and died; yet itappeared as if he still slept.
John wept bitterly. He had no one in the wide world now; neither father， mother，brother， nor sister. Poor John! he knelt down by the bed， kissed his dead father's hand，and wept many， many bitter tears. But at last his eyes closed， and he fell asleep with hishead resting against the hard bedpost. Then he dreamed a strange dream; he thought he sawthe sun shining upon him， and his father alive and well， and even heard him laughing as heused to do when he was very happy. A beautiful girl， with a golden crown on her head， andlong， shining hair， gave him her hand; and his father said， “See what a bride you have won.She is the loveliest maiden on the whole earth.” Then he awoke， and all the beautiful thingsvanished before his eyes， his father lay dead on the bed， and he was all alone. Poor John!
During the following week the dead man was buried. The son walked behind the coffin whichcontained his father， whom he so dearly loved， and would never again behold. He heard theearth fall on the coffin-lid， and watched it till only a corner remained in sight， and at last thatalso disappeared. He felt as if his heart would break with its weight of sorrow， till those whostood round the grave sang a psalm， and the sweet， holy tones brought tears into hiseyes， which relieved him. The sun shone brightly down on the GREen trees， as if it wouldsay， “You must not be so sorrowful， John. Do you see the beautiful blue sky above you?Your father is up there， and he prays to the loving Father of all， that you may do well in thefuture.”
“I will always be good，” said John， “and then I shall go to be with my father in heaven.What joy it will be when we see each other again! How much I shall have to relate to him， andhow many things he will be able to explain to me of the delights of heaven， and teach me as heonce did on earth. Oh， what joy it will be!”
He pictured it all so plainly to himself， that he smiled even while the tears ran down hischeeks.
the little birds in the chestnut-trees twittered， “Tweet， tweet;” they were so happy，although they had seen the funeral; but they seemed as if they knew that the dead man wasnow in heaven， and that he had wings much larger and more beautiful than their own; and hewas happy now， because he had been good here on earth， and they were glad of it. John sawthem fly away out of the GREen trees into the wide world， and he longed to fly with them;but first he cut out a large wooden cross， to place on his father's grave; and when hebrought it there in the evening， he found the grave decked out with gravel and flowers.Strangers had done this; they who had known the good old father who was now dead， andwho had loved him very much.
Early the next morning， John packed up his little bundle of clothes， and placed all hismoney， which consisted of fifty dollars and a few shillings， in his girdle; with this hedetermined to try his fortune in the world. But first he went into the churchyard; and， byhis father's grave， he offered up a prayer， and said， “Farewell.”
As he passed through the fields， all the flowers looked fresh and beautiful in the warmsunshine， and nodded in the wind， as if they wished to say， “Welcome to the GREen wood，where all is fresh and bright.”
then John turned to have one more look at the old church， in which he had beenchristened in his infancy， and where his father had taken him every Sunday to hear the serviceand join in singing the psalms. As he looked at the old tower， he espied the ringer standing atone of the narrow openings， with his little pointed red cap on his head， and shading his eyesfrom the sun with his bent arm. John nodded farewell to him， and the little ringer waved hisred cap， laid his hand on his heart， and kissed his hand to him a GREat many times， toshow that he felt kindly towards him， and wished him a prosperous journey.
John continued his journey， and thought of all the wonderful things he should see in thelarge， beautiful world， till he found himself farther away from home than ever he had beenbefore. He did not even know the names of the places he passed through， and could scarcelyunderstand the language of the people he met， for he was far away， in a strange land. Thefirst night he slept on a haystack， out in the fields， for there was no other bed for him; butit seemed to him so nice and comfortable that even a king need not wish for a better. Thefield， the brook， the haystack， with the blue sky above， formed a beautiful sleeping-room.The GREen grass， with the little red and white flowers， was the carpet; the elder-bushes andthe hedges of wild roses looked like garlands on the walls; and for a bath he could have theclear， fresh water of the brook; while the rushes bowed their heads to him， to wish himgood morning and good evening. The moon， like a large lamp， hung high up in the blueceiling， and he had no fear of its setting fire to his curtains. John slept here quite safely allnight; and when he awoke， the sun was up， and all the little birds were singing round him， “Good morning， good morning. Are you not up yet?”
It was Sunday， and the bells were ringing for church. As the people went in， Johnfollowed them; he heard God's word， joined in singing the psalms， and listened to thepreacher. It seemed to him just as if he were in his own church， where he had beenchristened， and had sung the psalms with his father. Out in the churchyard were severalgraves， and on some of them the grass had grown very high. John thought of his father'sgrave， which he knew at last would look like these， as he was not there to weed and attendto it. Then he set to work， pulled up the high grass， raised the wooden crosses which hadfallen down， and replaced the wreaths which had been blown away from their places by thewind， thinking all the time， “Perhaps some one is doing the same for my father's grave， as Iam not there to do it ”
Outside the church door stood an old beggar， leaning on his crutch. John gave him hissilver shillings， and then he continued his journey， feeling lighter and happier than ever.Towards evening， the weather became very stormy， and he hastened on as quickly as hecould， to get shelter; but it was quite dark by the time he reached a little lonely church whichstood on a hill. “I will go in here，” he said， “and sit down in a corner; for I am quite tired，and want rest.”