A NIGHT ALONE ON CHOCORUA . 
75 
much which had been invisible an hour earlier 
was now dimly outlined in black and white. 
The sky, too, showed gaps in its curtain, and 
the white lakes in the distant valleys were more 
silvery than before. The storm was over, the 
moon was at work eating the clouds, and soon, 
I hoped, the stars would keep their tryst. Lan¬ 
tern in hand, I crept up the rocks, and settled 
myself once more on the peak. All my friendly 
lights in the valley had gone out, and I was 
now alone in the sky. 
Paugus, Passaconaway, and Whiteface were 
quite clearly outlined against each other and 
the sky. They seemed very near, however, so 
that it was easier for me to imagine myself on a 
lonely rock in the ocean, with huge waves about 
to overwhelm me, than to make those combing 
waves stand back three, eight, twelve miles and 
become spruce-covered mountains. Gradually 
other mountain outlines became discernible, and 
the cloud-curtain above showed folds and wrin¬ 
kles, which in time wore out under the moon’s 
chafing and let through a glimpse of Mars or 
Vega, marvelously far away in that serene ether. 
Half an hour before midnight the pale disk of 
the moon appeared through the thin clouds, and 
at the witching hour she sailed out proudly into 
a little space of clear blue-black heaven. The 
wind came in fresher puffs, a snowy cloud-cap 
