Page:Rowland--The Mountain of Fears.djvu/63

  that flickered suddenly from the swash along side and skittered away across the dancing waves.

"What suggested this topic to your mind!" I asked, curiously, for we had been discussing the relative naval strength of Germany and the United States.

"That island." He nodded toward Margherita as it rose, rough in outline, but with the misty softness of distance, from the quiet, pink and purple sea. The sun was resting on the rim of the sky-line, and its late rays bathed the lavender slopes of the mountains, that rose in tumbling confusion, their summits blazing with high-lights and their feet already clothed in slanting shadows.

Almost as we watched, the sun slipped under the sea; a multi-colored breeze rippled the face of the water; opalescent flashes sparkled here and there from the sails of the little Portuguese men-of-war, and then the daylight began to wane, as it seemed, in rhythmic beats. [ 47 ]