It was a sweet emblem of conjugal affection as they toiled up the difficult ascent gathering strength from the mutual aid which they afforded . After several little accidents , such as a torn robe , a lost shoe and the entanglement of Hannah 's hair in a bough , they reached the upper verge of the forest and were now to pursue a more adventurous course . The innumerable trunks and heavy foliage of the trees had hitherto shut in their thoughts , which now shrank affrighted from the region of wind and cloud and naked rocks and desolate sunshine that rose immeasurably above them . They gazed back at the obscure wilderness which they had traversed , and longed to be buried again in its depths rather than trust themselves to so vast and visible a solitude . `` Shall we go on ? '' said Matthew , throwing his arm round Hannah 's waist both to protect her and to comfort his heart by drawing her close to it . But the little bride , simple as she was , had a woman 's love of jewels , and could not forego the hope of possessing the very brightest in the world , in spite of the perils with which it must be won . `` Let us climb a little higher , '' whispered she , yet tremulously , as she turned her face upward to the lonely sky . `` Come , then , '' said Matthew , mustering his manly courage and drawing her along with him ; for she became timid again the moment that he grew bold . And upward , accordingly , went the pilgrims of the Great Carbuncle , now treading upon the tops and thickly-interwoven branches of dwarf pines which by the growth of centuries , though mossy with age , had barely reached three feet in altitude . Next they came to masses and fragments of naked rock heaped confusedly together like a cairn reared by giants in memory of a giant chief . In this bleak realm of upper air nothing breathed , nothing grew ; there was no life but what was concentred in their two hearts ; they had climbed so high that Nature herself seemed no longer to keep them company . She lingered beneath them within the verge of the forest-trees , and sent a farewell glance after her children as they strayed where her own green footprints had never been . But soon they were to be hidden from her eye . Densely and dark the mists began to gather below , casting black spots of shadow on the vast landscape and sailing heavily to one centre , as if the loftiest mountain-peak had summoned a council of its kindred clouds . Finally the vapors welded themselves , as it were , into a mass , presenting the appearance of a pavement over which the wanderers might have trodden , but where they would vainly have sought an avenue to the blessed earth which they had lost . And the lovers yearned to behold that green earth again -- more intensely , alas ! than beneath a clouded sky they had ever desired a glimpse of heaven . They even felt it a relief to their desolation when the mists , creeping gradually up the mountain , concealed its lonely peak , and thus annihilated -- at least , for them -- the whole region of visible space . But they drew closer together with a fond and melancholy gaze , dreading lest the universal cloud should snatch them from each other 's sight .
Still , perhaps , they would have been resolute to climb as far and as high between earth and heaven as they could find foothold if Hannah 's strength had not begun XXXXX fail , and with that her courage also .
After above at beneath by like over to upon within