Some instinct, of simple curiosity perhaps, but of far-reaching effect, led him to crawl back into his hiding-place and watch.
Last night, after many hours of painful walking, two things alone had impressed themselves upon his consciousness: the dark illimitable forest and the double line of rails, which with the absolute straightness of exact science had stretched behind and in front till the tree-tops in the far distance seemed to touch, and the rails themselves to vanish into the black heart of the close-growing pines.

For miles he had limped along the painfully rough track without seeing the slightest sign of any break in the woods, or any human being.

At last the desire for sleep had overtaken him.

He was a hardy young Englishman, and a night out of doors in the middle of June under these odorous pines presented itself merely as a not disagreeable adventure.

Five minutes after the idea had occurred to him he was asleep.
And now in the gray morning he looked out upon a different scene.
Scarcely a dozen yards from him stood a single travelling-coach of dark green, drawn by a heavy engine.