184 ARDENMOHR. 



the near slopes broken here and there by the 

 silvery grey and dark clefts of the rocky steeps, 

 while the far-off pale blue mountains blended with 

 the sky. Great clouds sailed overhead, their passing 

 shadows casting momentary gloom on hill and loch, 

 the next minute to be flooded in the light of the 

 sun. 



" How beautiful ! " at last Annie Peyton said ; 

 " is it not grand, Charley ? " 



" Perfect," said Miss Clive; " but so still and 

 desolate." 



"No, not desolate; I could pass the long day 

 here alone happily, that is, if I were happy at 

 the time," she added, with a smile. 



"And you, Miss Clive, would you find it very 

 lonely on this hill-top ? " I inquired. 



"I can hardly say, Mr. Abbott: all places seem 

 so nice when there is (what Annie makes provision 

 for) sunshine in one's own mind; but it would be 

 trying to sit here alone in a pet. No sympathy 

 from nature for that, eh, Annie ? Just a minute 

 since that bay opposite was as black as ink ; silver 

 now : a vexatious lesson for sulk, if sulk cared for 

 anything but itself. But enough of moralising : are 

 these sheep ? " 



