"..road ..to Bald Hill."

The following passage from War and Peace describes the setting that a Russian regiment—with Napoleon’s army “close on their heels”—observed as they marched along a high road leading to Bald Hill:

“ The heat and drought had gone on for more than three weeks. Every day fleecy clouds floated across the sky, occasionally shutting out the sun, but towards evening the sky would clear again and the sun set in a somber red haze. Only the heavy night dews refreshed the earth. The wheat left in the fields was burnt up and dropping out of the ear. The marshes dried up. The cattle lowed from hunger, finding nothing to gaze on in the sun-baked meadows. Only at night and in the forests while the dew lasted was it ever cool.”

                                                     Apparel for the enlightened reader