J. C. VAN DYKE I07 



In half an hour we were close in ; for perhaps 

 as long ayain we skirted that formidable barrier 

 towards its farther side ; and presently the sea 

 began insensibly to moderate and the ship to go 

 more sweetly. We had gained the lea of the 

 island, as (for form's sake) I may call that ring of 

 foam and haze and thunder ; and, shaking out a 

 reef, wore ship and headed for the passage. 



A". L. Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourtie. 



Calm after Storm '=::y ^e^ ^^ 



(From The Opal Sea) 



A LL night long the pound against the cliffs and 

 "^^ the tremble of the shore ! All night the 

 whistle of the spray-laden wind as it drives 

 through the branches of the pines ! All night 

 the curl and flash of the white crests on the open 

 sea ! By morning perhaps the wind has fallen, 

 the clouds have vanished, the sun is forth ; and yet 

 for many hours afterward the far ocean waves 

 keep swashing against each other and collapsing 

 in swirls of foam. Finally the sea runs down, the 

 breakers sink ; and at sunset as you walk along 

 the beach all is quiet. It is hard to realize per- 

 haps that the now smooth sea with its j)la( itl little 

 swells could ever have worn such a savage front. 

 But the traces of its fury still remain, 'i'lie dunes 



