egard that rusted iron flask as a sort of mascot, and in the end I
took it.

I followed that odd, faint track on the black earth under the heather
till I came to the big grey stone beyond the horizon, where the track
divides into two, and I took the one to the left as the old man told
me. I knew by another stone that I saw far off that I had not lost my
way, nor the old man lied.

And just as I hoped to see the city's ramparts before the gloaming
fell on that desolate place, I suddenly saw a long high wall of
whiteness with pinnacles here and there thrown up above it, floating
towards me silent and grim as a secret, and knew it for that evil
thing the mist. The sun, though low, was shining on every sprig of
heather, the green and scarlet mosses were shining with it too, it
seemed incredible that in three minutes' time all those colours would
be gone and nothing left all round but a grey darkness. I gave up hope
of finding the city that day, a broader path than mine could have been
quite easily lost. I hastily chose for my bed a thick patch of
heather, wrapped myself in a waterproof cloak, and lay down and made
myself comfortable. And then the mist came. It came like the careful
pulling of lace curtains, then like the drawing of grey blinds; it
shut out the horizon to the north, then to the east and west; it
turned the whole sky white and hid the moor; it came down on it like a
metropolis, only utterly silent, silent and white as tombstones.

And then I was glad of that strange strong rum, or whatever it was in
the flask that the shepherd gave me, for I did not think that the mist
would clear till night, and I feared the night would be cold. So I
nearly emptied the flask; and, sooner than I expected, I fell asleep,
for the first night out as a rule one does not sleep at once but is
kept awake some while by the little winds and the unfamiliar sound of
the things that wander at night, and that cry to one another far-off
with their queer, faint voices; one misses them afterwards when one
gets to houses again. But I heard none of these sounds in the mist
that evening.

And then I woke and found that the mist was gone and the sun was just
disappearing under the moor, and I knew that I had not slept for as
long as I thought. And I decided to go on while I could, for I thought
that I was not very far from the city.

I went on and on along the twisty track, bits of the mist came down
and filled the hollows but lifted again