"Are you quite sure?" asked Hopeful.
"I am confident of it," answered the stranger.
"There, didn't I tell you so?" said Christian. "And to make us doubly sure, see that finger board which says: TO THE CELESTIAL CITY."
So the stranger, whose name was Vain-confidence, went on before; and they followed him. But soon the night came on, and it grew very dark. They could not see the path. They lost sight of him that went before.
Presently, as they were groping in the dark, they heard a fearful scream, and then a crash, as of some one falling into a pit. They called out, and asked, "What is the matter? Where are we now?"
But the only answer they heard was a groaning in the darkness. And now it began to rain; and the thunder and lightning were most dreadful. The water also began to rise in the meadow, and they were fearful lest they should be drowned.
"Oh, that I had kept in the right way!" groaned Hopeful.
"But who would have thought that this path would lead us astray?" said Christian.
"I was afraid of it at the first," said Hopeful, "and
