One could talk in the mountain solitude as one could not talk in a drawing-room.

For all that, Lister felt he had not altogether broken the girl's reserve.
"One envies men like you who build railways and sail ships," she said, and now Lister wondered where she led.

"You live a natural life, knowing bodily strain and primitive emotions.

Sometimes you're exhausted and sometimes afraid.

Your thought's fixed on the struggle; you're keenly occupied.