Audrey

The pioneer, his wife and children, watched them go. One of the gentlemen

turned in his saddle and waved his hand. Alce curtsied, but Molly, at whom

he had looked, saw him not, because her eyes were full of tears. The

company reached and entered a cleft between the hills; a moment, and men

and horses were lost to sight; a little longer, and not even a sound could

be heard.

It was as though they had taken the sunshine with them; for a cloud had

come up from the west, and the sun was hidden. All at once the valley

seemed a sombre and lonely place, and the hills with their whispering

trees looked menacingly down upon the clearing, the cabin, and the five

simple English folk. The glory of the day was gone. After a little more

of idle staring, the frontiersman and his son returned to their work in

the forest, while Alce and Molly went indoors to their spinning, and

Audrey sat down upon the doorstep to listen to the hurry of voices in the

trees, and to watch the ever-deepening shadow of the cloud above the

valley.