STILL WATERS 
187 
Anything that disturbs the smoothness of the 
water also disturbs the clearness of the reflec- 
tion. A breeze may cause it to disappear, and at 
the same time may make the shadow more appar- 
ent. Rough water will show the shadow of a 
flying cloud almost as clearly as a field of grain 
or a hill-side meadow, without giving us more 
than a hint of the cloud’s reflection. When 
water is slightly ruffled the reflection does not 
disappear at once, but is lightened or silvered 
in color, and at the same time it is elongated. 
This everyone must have observed at night, with 
the moonlight falling on the lake. When the 
surface is perfectly calm the moon shows in the 
water like a round ball; but as soon as the sur- 
face is ruffled we have the elongation of the re- 
flection into that flickering trail of light called 
the Angels’ Pathway. Elongation is seen again 
in the reflection of the artificial lights in a har- 
bor, where the water is always disturbed. The 
reflection writhes and twists in the water like a 
fiery snake. The sails of ships, houses, trees, 
almost any object near or upon the water, will 
show elongation in the same way. Everyone 
who has been in Venice knows the effect of the 
orange sails reflected in the swaying waters ; 
and the long wriggle of the blue-and-white gon- 
Elongated 
rejlections. 
The Angels’ 
L’athway. 
