Twilight is the cherished season for sad memories,
even as the midnight is supposed to be that of guilty ghosts; and
nothing, surely, can be more fitting than that the shadows of former
hopes should revisit us in those hours when the face of nature
itself seems darkening into gloom.
It was night before the wayfarers reached the appointed baiting
place. There they found their company--a sort of little caravan,
such as is frequent in the history of western emigration--already
assembled, and the supper awaiting them. Let us leave them to its
enjoyment, and return once more to the village of Charlemont.
CHAPTER III
THE STRONG-MINDED WOMAN.
The young maiden last met by our travellers, and whose appearance
had so favorably impressed them, had not been altogether uninfluenced
by the encounter. Her spirit was of a musing and perhaps somewhat
moody character, and the little adventure related in our last
chapter, had awakened in her mind a train of vague and purposeless
thought, from which she did not strive to disengage herself. She
ceased to pursue the direct path back to Charlemont, the moment she
had persuaded herself that the strangers had continued on their way;
and turning from the beaten track, she strolled aside, following the
route of a brooklet, the windings of which, as it led her forward,
were completely hidden from the intrusive glance of any casual
wayfarer.
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