THE LAKE BY THE SEA 107 



wonderful colour for the earth as shall seldom adorn 

 even summer hours. Here two aqueous worlds 

 lie side by side, the one full of visible loveli- 

 ness and upspringing life, the other hiding all its 

 wonders beneath a blue and purple curtain, touched 

 with light and fringed with silver. Passing along 

 between them I wander, first to the shore of the great 

 waters, then to the margin of the lake, and then to 

 the shore again, even as the gulls cross back and 

 forth from their proper home to float with the black 

 coots, brown dabchicks, and moorhens, and cackle to 

 them of the wonders of the deep. Swans also lord 

 it here, swelling along with snowy bosoms that leave 

 a shining wake. A pair having three grey cygnets 

 squeaking astern, mistrusted me, and hissed, and 

 flashed their snakes' eyes at me, then with strong, 

 unseen strokes of their black webs, rode away over the 

 rippling shallows into deep water and safety. 



The lake and the shore, separated by a straight 

 white road, blend indeed into a complete picture, 

 yet preserve their characteristics, and yield obedi- 

 ence to the sea on one side and the lagoon upon 

 the other. Those things that love the ley lie inland, 

 while on the southern side thrive the creatures of salt 

 soil and salt breezes. These stretch tendrils and nod 

 blossoms to the sea ; they venture over the sandy 

 shingle even to the confines of high tides ; they 

 prosper in the rack of old storms, trail fair blossoms 

 amid fragments from ancient wrecks and the orts and 



