nearly ten o'clock
It burst in the vicinity of Fishkill with a lively display of lightning , deluging the Catskills with rain . And when he changed to a train on the Mohawk division the cooler air was agreeably noticeable . He changed trains again at Orangeville , and here the night breeze was delightful and the scent of rain-soaked meadows came through the open car window . It was nearly ten o'clock and already , ahead , he caught sight of the lights of Neeland 's Mills . Always the homecoming was a keen delight to him ; and now , as he stepped off the train , the old familiar odours were in his nostrils -- the unique composite perfume of the native place which never can be duplicated elsewhere . All the sweet and aromatic and homely smells of earth and land and water came to him with his first deep-drawn breath . The rank growth of wild flowers and weeds were part of it -- the flat atmosphere of the mill pond , always redolent of water weed and lily pads , tinctured it ; distant fields of buckwheat added heavier perfume .