390 THE BREAKING UP OF THE PARTY. 



looking through a Claude Lorraine glass. 

 At their feet was spread out the broad, 

 glass-like lake, with its rocks and islets 

 sleeping in the yellow sunshine ; to the east, 

 beyond Lord Ely's demesne, was seen, dim 

 and indistinct in its own smoke, the island- 

 town of Enniskillen ; while to the west, the 

 country they had been traversing was already 

 partially concealed by a thin, light, blue, 

 hazy mist that the heat had drawn up — so 

 that the trees and cabins, with here and 

 there a bright glittering turn in the river, 

 were seen, as it were, through a veil. In 

 front rose the wooded promontory of Castle 

 Caldwell, backed by the Donegal mountains, 

 now glowing with their purple heather like 

 amethysts in the setting sun. 



" It is a singular thing," said the Squire, 

 after they had sat for some time gazing at 

 the lovely scene, and enjoying the calm, 

 quiet feeling of the warm, still evening ; 

 "it is a singular thing that this beautiful 

 lake, from whatever point of view you see 

 it, and whether its waters be high or low, 

 always gives you something the idea of an 

 inundation. Look now at those green 

 islands on the northern shore, do they not 



