90 IRature Stubies in Berksbirc* 



aspects were friendly and reassuring. The rain drew 

 a steel-grey curtain between the eye and the land- 

 scape, which added a distinct charm to the whole 

 circle of scenery. All the face of the sky seemed to 

 say to the beleaguered human beings in the house : 

 '' Stay at home and be happy ; read, chat, sing, mend 

 stockings, play games, while the earth soaks in re- 

 freshment and nutrition from the clouds." There is a 

 sense of the comfort of home which one might call 

 storm-begotten. I fancy most people learn to relish 

 it thoroughly. It puts a premium upon all the at- 

 tractions of the sheltering roof and the cheerful fire- 

 side. Yet the clouds have no menace of harm to the 

 earth. They only seem to deprecate going out of 

 doors. They encourage home-staying. 



But soon after breakfast, almost before the dis- 

 cussions and prophecies about the day's probabilities 

 were out of the way, there came great rifts in the 

 clouds, through which the deep blue of a clear upper 

 stratum gleamed brightly and hopefully. The rents 

 grew larger, the sunlight came in more frequent 

 bursts, the tattered edges of the storm-cloud hung 

 darkly in the east, while westward the blue was 

 bright and cheery with the promise of clear weather. 

 I could not help noting, as I studied the retreating 

 wrack, how much a certain blue patch in the cloud- 

 bank resembled the angry glow of an inflammation. 

 It was like a bad symptom, in this instance just 

 beginning to disappear. 



The early afternoon brought a new phase of cloud- 



