THE BEAUTY 25 



carmine, only it was translucent, as much 

 so as is a roseate coal of burning drift- 

 wood. 



This stage of the "afterglow" lasted 

 long enough for me to call the people in 

 the pension, say eight or ten minutes, then 

 the color slowly faded into a blushing 

 pearl; then, more slowly, into a ghostly, 

 vaporous white, which became fainter and 

 fainter until utterly lost in the gloaming. 



Now the village-lights of Spiez, across 

 the lake, began to appear over against 

 the vague, mysterious night-masses of the 

 mountains. 



