I soon got to my
journey's end, and soon had done my business; earlier by an hour, I
thought, than my father had expected, so I took the decision of the way
by which I would return into my own hands, and set off back again over
the Fells, just as the first shades of evening began to fall. It looked
dark and gloomy enough; but everything was so still that I thought I
should have plenty of time to get home before the snow came down. Off I
set at a pretty quick pace. But night came on quicker. The right path
was clear enough in the day-time, although at several points two or three
exactly similar diverged from the same place; but when there was a good
light, the traveller was guided by the sight of distant objects,--a piece
of rock,--a fall in the ground--which were quite invisible to me now. I
plucked up a brave heart, however, and took what seemed to me the right
road. It was wrong, nevertheless, and led me whither I knew not, but to
some wild boggy moor where the solitude seemed painful, intense, as if
never footfall of man had come thither to break the silence.
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