noon
VI . The procession of mourners , with Robbie Anderson and the mare at its head , had walked slowly down Borrowdale after the men on foot had turned back towards Withburn . Following the course of the winding Derwent , they had passed the villages of Stonethwaite and Seathwaite , and in two hours from the time they set out from Shoulthwaite they had reached the foot of Stye Head Pass . The brightness of noon had now given place to the chill leaden atmosphere of a Cumbrian December . In the bed of the dale they were sheltered from the wind , but they saw the mists torn into long streaks overhead , and knew that the storm had not abated . When they came within easy range of the top of the great gap between the mountains over which they were to pass , they saw for a moment a man 's figure clearly outlined against the sky . `` He 's yonder , '' thought Robbie , and urged on the mare with her burden .