Final answer:
The passage portrays Maude as exhausted yet determined, highlighting her resilience as she successfully completes her journey despite weariness and the night's challenges.
Step-by-step explanation:
The details in the excerpt from A Century Ride by Grace E. Denison suggest that the character Maude is enduring a long journey and is exhausted but determined. As the time passes from nine o'clock to ten, she encounters various elements of the natural world, such as an owl and the faint quacking of ducks, which adds a sense of time and fatigue to her travel.
Despite the growing shadows and her weariness, the passage indicates that Maude's spirit is unbroken as she reaches her destination: the threshold of the little inn where the doctor lives.
This determination and resilience are further highlighted as she is described to wheel past the outlying houses and step off breathlessly but successfully at her goal, illustrating her strength and perseverance throughout the wearying trip under the night sky.