Half turning, he could see
the dwelling at his back--a small, grey stone rectangle with a narrow
portico on its solid face and a pale glimmer of candles in the lower
windows. The ground immediately about it was cleared of brush and little
trees, affording Peter Heydrick a necessary, unobstructed view of the
Furnace stack while sitting in his house or when aroused at night. The
dwelling was inviting, at once slipping into the dusk and emerging by
reason of the warm glow within. Mrs. Heydrick, too, was an excellent
cook; there would be plenty of venison, roast partridge, okra soup.
Afterwards, under a late moon, he could go back to Myrtle Forge; or he
might stay at the Heydricks all night, and to-morrow kill such a buck as
he had lost.
The twilight darkened beneath the trees, the surrounding hills lost
their forms, in the east the distance merged into the oncoming night,
but the west was still translucent, green. There was a faint movement
in the leaves by the roadside, and a grey fox crossed, flattened on the
ground, and disappeared. Howat Penny could see the liquid gleam of its
eyes as it watched him. From the hill by the coal house came the heavy
beating of wild turkeys' wings.
He could go to Peter Heydrick's, where the venison would be excellent,
and Mrs.
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