So they turned their ponies' heads
towards it, and started again, keeping their eyes steadily on a mound
or barrow on the hill-top. In a short time they found themselves clear
of the boggy ground; and the ponies stepped out so bravely that they
felt sure that they were going right. So they trotted on, greatly
encouraged, and came to a stream babbling over its bed of yellow
stones, though the ground beyond it was so steep that they were obliged
to follow it for some distance before they could find a way across.
Thus they were compelled to move slowly, and Elsie suddenly gave a
little shiver, and both she and Dick realised that the air was grown
chill and that the light was beginning to fail. Still they pressed the
ponies on, and at last they caught sight again of the barrow on the
hill, though, to their disappointment, it seemed little nearer than
before. Then even while they watched it, a great bank of gray mist
suddenly came rolling out of the west and blotted out the barrow and
the ridge on which it stood. Still they rode on towards the same
point, until, almost before they knew it, the mist was upon them and
they could not see fifty yards away. Their hearts sank within them as
the darkness gathered round them, but though they drew closer together
they said nothing, for the ponies still travelled on with confidence,
and they hoped that all the while they were drawing nearer to the
barrow.
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