Theblankmighthavebeenanhouroracentury。Heknewonlythatomethinghadhappenedintheinterval。Whatiswashecouldnottell。
Hefoundgreatdifficultyincatchingthethreadofhisidentityagain。
Hefeltthathewashimself；butthetroublewastomakehisconnections，toverifyandplacehimself，toknowwhoandwherehewas。
Atlastitgrewclear。JohnWeightmanwassittingonastone，notfarfromaroadinastrangeland。
Theroadwasnotaformalhighway，fencedandgraded。Itwasmorelikeagreattravel-trace，wornbythousandsoffeetpassingacrosstheopencountryinthesamedirection。Downinthevalley，intowhichhecouldlook，theroadseemedtoformitselfgraduallyoutofmanyminorpaths；littlefootwayscomingacrossthemeadows，windingtracksfollowingalongbesidethestreams，faintlymarkedtrailsemergingfromthewoodlands。Butonthehillsidethethreadsweremorefirmlywovenintooneclearbandoftravel，thoughtherewerestillafewdimpathsjoiningithereandthere，asifpersonshadbeenclimbingupthehillbyotherwaysandhadturnedatlasttoseektheroad。