Lamps
shed their homely light; roof and wall kept the fog-spook
securely out: nothing as comfortable then as to listen
to stories of being lost on the marsh, or to tell them...
But between those people and myself the curtain had
fallen--no sign of their presence, no faintest gleam of
their light and warmth! They did not know of the stranger
passing outside, his whole being a-yearn with the desire
for wife and child. I listened intently--no sound of man
or beast, no soughing of wind in stems or rustling of
the very last leaves that were now fast falling... And
then the startling neighing of Dan, my horse! This was
the third trip he made with me, and I might have known
and expected it, but it always came as a surprise. Whenever
we passed that second farm, he stopped and raising his
head, with a sideways motion, neighed a loud and piercing
call. And now he had stopped and done it again. He knew
where we were. I lowered my whip and patted his rump.
How did he know? And why did he do it? Was there a horse
on this farmstead which he had known in former life? Or
was it a man? Or did he merely feel that it was about
time to put in for the night? I enquired later on, but
failed to discover any reason for his behaviour.
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