He now felt some little concern about his
daughters, and perhaps as much about the canoe; but, on the whole,
this uncertainty did not much disturb him, as he had the reliance
already mentioned on the intelligence of Judith.
It was the season of the shortest nights, and it was not long
before the deep obscurity which precedes the day began to yield to
the returning light. If any earthly scene could be presented to
the senses of man that might soothe his passions and temper his
ferocity, it was that which grew upon the eyes of Hutter and Hurry
as the hours advanced, changing night to morning. There were the
usual soft tints of the sky, in which neither the gloom of darkness
nor the brilliancy of the sun prevails, and under which objects
appear more unearthly, and we might add holy, than at any other
portion of the twenty four hours. The beautiful and soothing calm
of eventide has been extolled by a thousand poets, and yet it does
not bring with it the far-reaching and sublime thoughts of the half
hour that precedes the rising of a summer sun. In the one case the
panorama is gradually hid from the sight, while in the other its
objects start out from the unfolding picture, first dim and misty;
then marked in, in solemn background; next seen in the witchery of
an increasing, a thing as different as possible from the decreasing
twilight, and finally mellow, distinct and luminous, as the rays
of the great centre of light diffuse themselves in the atmosphere.
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