noon
At any rate , it was kindly meant , and so I kindly received it . Unknown , lowly benefactress , I salute thee again from afar , after many years . Breasting the last green steep of the hill , picking my way amid black rocks and dripping fern , I soon came upon the high road whose entry had been barred to me by the soldiers . I ate my bread , finished my jug of wine , and pushed on so vigorously that by noon I was in the heart of the mountains . To cut the narrative short , after one cold night in the open and one more day 's march , having surmounted the watershed of Lombardy and Tuscany , I found myself within view of the frontier , saw the guard - house with the red and white posts of the Grand Duchy , and two sentries with muskets walking up and down -- a sharp reminder of difficulties ahead . Beyond the frontier the road curved about a great bluff of rock and skirted the edge of an abyss . I could see dimly a far-stretching blue plain with rivers and white villages showing faintly upon it ; my heart leaped at the thought that there below me , within a day 's travel , was the land that held Aurelia and Redemption ; but even in that same moment there surged up that bitter something which chilled the generous feelings and staled the fluttering hopes .