midday
Well , I gave my damp clothes but a turn or two more in the sun , and then , arguing that from the bare ground where the forest ended half-way up the hill , a wide view would be obtained , hurried into my garments and set off thither right gleefully . A turn or two down the blank streets , now prosaic enough , an easy scramble through a gap in the crumbling battlements , and there was the open forest again , with a friendly path well marked by the passage of those wild animals who made the city their lair trending towards my landmark . A light breakfast of soft green nuts , plucked on the way , and then the ground began to bend upwards and the woods to thin a little . With infinite ardour , just before midday , I scrambled on to a bare knoll on the very hillside , and fell exhausted before the top could be reached . But what were hunger or fatigue to the satisfaction of that moment ? There was the sea before me , the clear , strong , gracious sea , blue leagues of it , furrowed by the white ridges of some distant storm . I could smell the scent of it even here , and my sailor heart rose in pride at the companionship of that alien ocean .