The last quarter of the moon was now
due, and although we could not see it through the misty clouds overhead,
it lighted up the air considerably when it rose, so that we could then
see the fields on either side of the road, especially when we came to an
upward gradient. We gradually became conscious of what appeared to be a
great black cloud in front of us as we climbed up the road, and were
astonished when we perceived that instead of a cloud it was a tremendous
hill, towards which our road was leading us. We had been walking for
days through a level country, and did not expect to come to a hill like
this, and this strange and sudden development sharpened us up a little,
for we had only been walking at about the rate, including stoppages, of
one mile per hour, so we walked steadily up the hill, and presently came
in sight of some large trees, from which we knew that we were
approaching civilisation; we had not seen a single habitation or a
living being of any kind since leaving Kineton. On the other side of a
field to the left of our road we could see a rustic-looking shed which
we resolved to visit, so, climbing over the fence, we walked cautiously
towards it, and found it was an ancient store-shed for hay and straw.
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