the forests had been gone long now , replaced by the monotonous flat country : endless , desolate fields gone to timothy and low shrubs , shacks , eerie , deserted estates guarded by brooding , shadowed mansions where demons undeniably walked ; leering , empty shanties where the people had either moved on or had been moved along , an occasional dweller 's hovel , given away by a single flickering point of light in the dark , or by sullen , inbred clans toiling silently in the fields by day .