12 BEACH GRASS 



later, barn swallows rise up in clouds from the 

 dune thicket near at hand and salute the sun 

 which, although still invisible from the sand, 

 lights up their plumage on high. The red glow 

 in the East begins to pale. It loses its brilliant 

 carmine hue, fades to rose and to yellow and to 

 cold straw color, and the great globe of the sun 

 appears above the horizon. 



It is time for him to arise if he would take 

 advantage of the oblique rays of the sun to study 

 the story of the night in the tracks in the sand. 

 The sand is moist with dew and holds every 

 faintest impression like molders' wax. The 

 wind has not yet arisen to mar these impressions 

 by drying and crumbling them, or by filling them 

 with blowing sand. The oblique rays of the 

 sun, casting shadows in the faintest indentations, 

 bring out with startling clearness tracks that are 

 all but invisible when the sun is overhead. 



Near at hand are tracks of small birds that 

 have paused for a moment, but have departed in 

 haste alarmed by the attributes of man. An 

 unsuspecting white-footed mouse has jumped 

 along, leaving the tracks of a miniature rabbit. 



