The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 01Stevenson, Robert Louis
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The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 01
Stevenson, Robert Louis
English literature -- 19th century
I was wakened next morning (Wednesday, October 2nd) by the same dog--for
I knew his bark--making a charge down the bank, and then, seeing me sit
up, retreating again with great alacrity. The stars were not yet quite
extinguished. The heaven was of that enchanting mild grey-blue of the
early morn. A still clear light began to fall, and the trees on the
hillside were outlined sharply against the sky. The wind had veered more
to the north, and no longer reached me in the glen; but as I was going
on with my preparations, it drove a white cloud very swiftly over the
hill-top; and looking up, I was surprised to see the cloud dyed with
gold. In these high regions of the air the sun was already shining as at
noon. If only the clouds travelled high enough, we should see the same
thing all night long. For it is always daylight in the fields of space.
As I began to go up the valley, a draught of wind came down it out of
the seat of the sunrise, although the clouds continued to run overhead
in an almost contrary direction. A few steps farther, and I saw a whole
hillside gilded with the sun; and still a little beyond, between two
peaks, a centre of dazzling brilliancy appeared floating in the sky, and
I was once more face to face with the big bonfire that occupies the
kernel of our system.
I met but one human being that forenoon, a dark military-looking
wayfarer, who carried a game-bag on a baldric; but he made a remark that
seems worthy of record. For when I asked him if he were Protestant or
Catholic--
"Oh," said he, "I make no shame of my religion. I am a Catholic."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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