Onward through the Fog

Though a glorious day was breaking as we departed Niitsu, we soon entered a twilight region where everthing save the train itself, the Agano River (whose course the line followed), and the bases of the nearest mountains, was enshrouded in fog, and not a ray of sun penetrated. There was a sense of eeriness and mystery, as though we had entered a world as yet undiscovered. There was also a mundane concern that the fog would turn to rain. An hour or so after pulling out of Niitsu Station, the train pulled into Tsugawa, and we got off.