58 THE CALL OF THE SEA 



lark went up from the cliffs behind St. Cecilia, 

 and we smelt a smell of cows in the lighthouse 

 pastures below. 



Then we were both at liberty to thank the Lord 

 for another day of clean and wholesome life. 



Rudyard Kipling. 



(From The Sands of Pleasure) 



JUST before dawn he went out again to the 

 balcony, and watched the grey daylight filter 

 and spread through the darkness. As it in- 

 creased, the rays from the light fell shorter and 

 fainter, helpless to prevail, for all their power, 

 against the light that was coming. Out of the 

 gloom rose the coasts and the land, and with the 

 falling of the wind and the absence of its salt 

 odours, the smell from the earth came off, rich and 

 fragrant, in the morning air. The waves, un- 

 fretted by the wind, rolled in deep and heavy, at 

 first a dull grey, and then, as the light increased, 

 a furrowed sea of deepest indigo. The eastern 

 horizon was banked with clouds, above which the 

 reflection of the hidden fires of dawn began to 

 wash the sky with opalescent tints, and to kindle 

 a glow of saffron on the crests of the breaking 

 waves. Suddenly, behind him, Richard heard a 

 click ; the glare ceased, and the roar of the 

 ventilator died away. 



