CHAPTER LIV 



THE SUN 



EARLY in the morning Uncle Paul and his 

 nephews climbed the neighboring hill to see the 

 sunrise. It was still quite dark. The only persons 

 they met in passing through the village were the 



milkmaid, on her 

 way to town with 

 her butter and 

 milk, and the black- 

 smith hammering 

 away at the red- 

 hot iron on his an- 

 vil, while the glow 

 from the forge il- 

 lumined the dark- 

 ness of the road. 

 Sheltered by a 



The Sun 



clump of juniper- 

 trees, Paul and the three children await the grand 

 spectacle they have come to the top of the hill to see. 

 In the east the sky is getting lighter, the stars turn 

 pale and go out one by one. Flakes of rosy cloud 

 swim in a brilliant streak of light whence gradually 

 there rises a soft illumination. It reaches the zenith, 

 and the blue of day reappears with all its delicate 

 transparency. This cool morning light, this half- 



250 



