a windy wood, bare of undergrowth; there lay about the ground moldering
stumps, the relics of trees that had thundered to their fall, crashing
and tearing to earth, long ago; and from these remains there flowed out a
pale thin radiance, filling the spaces of the sounding wood with a dream
of light. He had lost all count of the track; he felt he had fled for
hours, climbing and descending, and yet not advancing; it was as if he
stood still and the shadows of the land went by, in a vision. But at last
a hedge, high and straggling, rose before him, and as he broke through
it, his feet slipped, and he fell headlong down a steep bank into a lane.
He lay still, half-stunned, for a moment, and then rising unsteadily, he
looked desperately into the darkness before him, uncertain and
bewildered. In front it was black as a midnight cellar, and he turned
about, and saw a glint in the distance, as if a candle were flickering in
a farm-house window. He began to walk with trembling feet towards the
light, when suddenly something pale started out from the shadows before
him, and seemed to swim and float down the air. He was going down hill,
and he hastened onwards, and he could see the bars of a stile framed
dimly against the sky, and the figure still advanced with that gliding
motion. Then, as the road declined to the valley, the landmark he had
been seeking appeared. To his right there surged up in the darkness the
darker summit of the Roman fort, and the streaming fire of the great full
moon glowed through the bars of the wizard oaks, and made a halo shine
about the hill. He was now quite close to the white appearance, and saw
that it was only a woman walking swiftly down the lane; the floating
movement was an effect due to the somber air and the moon's glamour. At
the gate, where he had spent so many hours gazing at the fort, they
walked foot to foot, and he saw it was Annie Morgan.

"Good evening, Master Lucian," said the girl, "it's very dark, sir,
indeed."