The Second Day of December 237 



ests were seen in the veiling blue, lifting their very 

 ground into view miles away, and the reflections 

 of a)l upon its banks made the river deeper and 

 wider to the eye. The trees whose images were 

 reflected in the slumbrous water seemed scarcely 

 more real than those images ; and far away the 

 mountains rose against the faintly outlined orange 

 tone on the horizon. All this lovely smoky tint as 

 the day wore on grew to light lavender and lilac, 

 and the sweet cerulean skies began to be flecked 

 and then filled with soft white clouds rolling in 

 beautiful tenuous masses above the earth. 



The sounds of the earth were fewer than on a 

 busier day, but they came with that far and mys 

 terious resonance which belongs to this peculiar 

 atmospheric condition. The bluejays and the 

 crows were lively with their wild and companion 

 able calls, which echoed so that whether before or 

 behind was now and again questioned. Magic 

 and mystery were the keynotes of the first half 

 of the day ; and as the clouds gathered and the 

 sun but rarely cast gleams through the yet thin 

 barrier, and &quot; drew water,&quot; as the rustic phrase is, 

 the spell was not broken. Under the pines and 

 oaks the fitful sunlight stole, and illumined the 

 woodland with a refinement of infinitely gracious 

 charm. It was not wonderful among wonders to 

 witness on a warm hillside at the edge of the for- 



