Around him lay the bare, brown earth of March.

The sun was warm and a subtle odor of lately uncovered sward was in the air.

The wind, soft, warm, and steady, blew from the west.

Here and there a patch of grass, faintly green, showed where sullen snow banks had lately lain.

And the sky! Filled with clouds almost as fleecy and as white as June, the sky covered him, and when he raised his eyes to it he saw a triangular flock of geese sweeping to the northwest, serene and apparently effortless.
He could not speak--did not wish to hear any speech but that of Nature, and the father seemed to comprehend his son's mood, for he, too, walked in silence.
The people of the village knew that Harold was to return to freedom that day, and with one excuse or another they came to the doors to see him pass.