MONTICELLO AGAIN The night was hot and dark when Rand, riding Selim, left the town and took the Monticello road.

He forded the creek, and the horse, scrambling up the farther side, struck fire from the loose stones.

Farther on, the way grew steep, and the heavy shadow of the overhanging trees made yet more oppressive the breathless night.

The stars could hardly be seen between the branches, but from the ground to the leafy roof the fireflies sparkled restlessly.

Rand thought, as he rode, of the future and the present, but not of the past.