down he bobbed, till I could almost feel the 

 fanning of his wings. How silent ! His long 

 legs hung limp, his body dangled between those 

 soft wide wings within reach of my face. Yet 

 I heard no sound. Mysterious creature ! I was 

 glad when he ceased his ghostly dance about me 

 and made off. 



It was nine o'clock. The waves had ceased to 

 wash against the sand, for the beach was gone ; 

 the breeze had died away ; the stir of the water 

 in the grass was still. Only a ripple broke now 

 and then against my little island. The bay and 

 the marsh were one. 



How still the plains of the waters be ! 

 The tide is in his ecstasy. 

 The tide is at his highest height : 

 And it is night. 



[75] 



