they filed off down the hillside

The donkeys were advancing, and it was advisable to begin thedescent immediately, for the night fell so quickly that it wouldbe dark before they were home again. 　　Accordingly, remounting in order, they filed off down the hillside. 　　Scraps of talk came floating back from one to another. There werejokes to begin with, and laughter; some walked part of the way,and picked flowers, and sent stones bounding before them. 　　"Who writes the best Latin verse in your college, Hirst?" Mr. Elliotcalled back incongruously, and Mr. Hirst returned that he had no idea. 　　The dusk fell as suddenly as the natives had warned them, the hollowsof the mountain on either side filling up with darkness and the pathbecoming so dim that it was surprising to hear the donkeys' hooves stillstriking on hard rock. Silence fell upon one, and then upon another,until they were all silent, their minds spilling out into the deepblue air. The way seemed shorter in the dark than in the day;and soon the lights of the town were seen on the flat far beneath them. 　　Suddenly some one cried, "Ah!"In a moment the slow yellow drop rose again from the plain below;it rose, paused, opened like a flower, and fell in a shower of drops. 　　"Fireworks," they cried. 　　Another went up more quickly; and then another; they could almosthear it twist and roar. 　　"Some Saint's day, I suppose," said a voice. The rush and embraceof the rockets as they soared up into the air seemed like the fieryway in which lovers suddenly rose and united, leaving the crowdgazing up at them with strained white faces. But Susan and Arthur,riding down the hill, never said a word to each other, and keptaccurately apart.