noon
A rough , unfrequented bridle-road rising and dipping towards the coast , with here and there a glimpse of sea beyond the sad-coloured moors : straight overhead , a red and wintry sun just struggling to assert itself : to right and left , a stretch of barren down still coated white with hoar-frost . I had flung the reins upon my horse 's neck , and was ambling homewards . Between me and Bleakirk lay seven good miles , and we had come far enough already on the chance of the sun 's breaking through ; but as the morning wore on , so our prospect of hunting that day faded further from us . It was now high noon , and I had left the hunt half an hour ago , turned my face towards the coast , and lit a cigar to beguile the way . When a man is twenty-seven he begins to miss the fun of shivering beside a frozen cover . The road took a sudden plunge among the spurs of two converging hills . As I began to descend , the first gleam of sunshine burst from the dull heaven and played over the hoar-frost .