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.