24 The Changeful Skies 



tain overhead. The air was " light" as that 

 on mountain-tops, and so free from dust that 

 the senses of sight and hearing were unusually- 

 acute. The sky seemed more distant than 

 when free from clouds, or, as the phrase 

 goes, was hollow. The nearer objefts in 

 the outlook were more removed than usual, 

 as though we looked through the wrong end 

 of a field-glass, and yet every outline was 

 distindt. Sounds that we often hear without 

 recognizing as other than part of the general 

 hum of the day's a&ivity were now startling. 

 There was not a crow in sight, yet the 

 clamor of a hundred was plainly heard, and 

 the whistle of a cardinal redbird and the 

 clear call of a crested tit came from the hill- 

 side half a mile away. Such sounds as these, 

 coming from unseen creatures, added interest 

 to these " hollow" skies, and from them all 

 revelations were expefted. Much besides 

 rain comes from above. From my comfort- 

 able resting-place against a sloping willow I 

 saw the avant-coureurs, it might be, of the 

 coming storm, a long line of small black dots 

 that slowly altered shape and, while yet 

 afar off, proved to be herons, long-necked, 

 long-legged, broad-winged herons, that give 



