I presume they were asleep; by the shawl about her head and shoulders, one of them should be a woman.

Soon, by concurrent steps, the day began to break and the fog to subside and roll away.

The east grew luminous and was barred with chilly colours, and the Castle on its rock, and the spires and chimneys of the upper town, took gradual shape, and arose, like islands, out of the receding cloud.

All about me was still and sylvan; the road mounting and winding, with nowhere a sign of any passenger, the birds chirping, I suppose for warmth, the boughs of the trees knocking together, and the red leaves falling in the wind.
It was broad day, but still bitter cold and the sun not up, when I came in view of my destination.

A single gable and chimney of the cottage peeped over the shoulder of the hill; not far off, and a trifle higher on the mountain, a tall old white-washed farmhouse stood among the trees, beside a falling brook; beyond were rough hills of pasture.