BROKEN AND SHADED LIGHT 
27 
upon rank, one so close upon the heels of the 
other that they are scarcely to be distinguished. 
How often the traveller has seen them in Paris 
swaying above the Arc de Triomphe and drift- 
ing down over the Champs Elysées, flooding 
the city with torrents of rain! How often he 
has seen them defiling over the plains of Bava- 
ria, covering the Bohemian forests, or muf- 
fling the hill-tops of New England! There 
is no break in the lines, no sunlight streaming 
through. At times a company seems to lift 
and lighten and the horizon appears to expand; 
but it is soon followed by a thicker company, 
the light darkens, the horizon contracts, and 
the rain waves through the air like the folds of 
an enormous mantle shaken out by the wind. 
And how dark the night following such a 
day! There is no moon, and only the sharp- 
pointed stars illumine the watery canopy from 
above. On such a night the wind seems to rise 
as the darkness falls, the mountains fade into 
vague black spots and then blur out, the break- 
ers with phosphor-white crests fall heavy and 
booming on the sea-shore, and the forest moans 
and vibrates like avast Alolian harp. There is 
little beauty here, save in sound and contem- 
plation. Not even lightning throws a momen- 
Storm 
light. 
Night and 
storm 
clouds, 
