ance, over the obscured way. The stage mounted,
turning over the long ascent to the crown of the east
range. Gordon put out the lantern. A faint grey
diluted the dark; the night sank thinly to morning,
a morning overcast with sluggish clouds; the bare
trees, growing slowly perceptible, dripped with moisture;
a treacherous film of mud overlaid the adamantine
road.

The day broke inexpressibly featureless and
dreary. The stage dropped to bald, brown valleys,
soggy fields and clear, hurrying streams; it rose deliberately
to heights blurred in aqueous vapors.
The moisture remained suspended throughout the
day; the grey pall hid Stenton as he drove up to the
tavern that formed his depot on the outskirts of the
city.

Later, in the solitude of his room, he heard the
hesitating patter of rain on the roof. He thought,
stretching his weary frame on the rigorous bed, that
if it turned cold through the night, the frozen road
would be dangerous tomorrow.

[[355]]

p354 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p355w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p356

v?