The considerable throng of people whom we had first seen in the
neighborhood of the house had scattered or gone off when the
infantry had left. Carpenters were still sawing and hammering on
the flimsy new barracks down in the meadow, and there seemed to be
a few people there. But on strolling thither I saw nothing of the
wench; so turned on my heel and walked briskly up the road.
About the village itself there was nothing to be seen of the
girl, nor did I know how to make inquiries— perhaps dreading to do
so lest my quest be misunderstood or made a jest of by some
impertinent fellow.
In the west a wide bank of cloud had pushed up over the horizon
and was already halving the low-hanging sun, which presently it
entirely swallowed; and the countryside grew luminously grey and
tha
