The fields were covered with stubble from the recent harvest.

The haycocks dotted the ground with their yellowish cones, now beginning to darken and take on a tone of oxidized gold.

In the valleys the birds were flitting about, shaking off the dew of dawn.
The first rays of the sun announced a very hot day.

Around the hay stacks Desnoyers saw knots of people who were getting up, shaking out their clothes, and awaking those who were still sleeping.

They were fugitives camping near the station in the hope that some train would carry them further on, they knew not where.