a change begin to thrill mysteriously through the atmosphere, like
the flowing of amber wine through crystal--the heavy vapors
shuddered together as though suddenly lashed by a whip of flame,--
they rose, swayed to and fro, and parted asunder. ... then,
dissolving into thin, milk-white veils of fleecy film, they
floated away, disclosing as they vanished, the giant summits of
the encircling mountains, that lifted themselves to the light, one
above another, in the form of frozen billows. Over these a
delicate pink flush flitted in tremulous wavy lines--long arrows
of gold began to pierce the tender shimmering blue of the sky--
soft puffs of cloud tinged with vivid crimson and pale green were
strewn along the eastern horizon like flowers in the path of an
advancing hero,--and then all at once there was a slight cessation
of movement in the heavens--an attentive pause as though the whole
universe waited for some great splendor as yet unrevealed. That
splendor came, in a red blaze of triumph the Sun rose, pouring a
shower of beamy brilliancy over the white vastness of the heights
covered with perpetual snow,--jagged peaks, sharp as scimetars and
sparkling with ice, caught fire, and seemed to melt away in an
absorbing sea of radiance, ... the waiting clouds moved on,
redecked in deeper hues of royal purple--and the full Morning
glory was declared. As the dazzling effulgence streamed through
the window and flooded the couch where Alwyn lay, a faint tinge of
color returned to his face,--his lips moved,--his broad chest
heaved with struggling sighs,--his eyelids quivered,--and his
before rigid hands relaxed and folded themselves together in an
attitude of peace and prayer. Like a statue becoming slowly and
magically flushed with life, the warm hues of the naturally
flowing blood deepened through the whiteness of his skin,--his
breathing grew more and more easy and regular,--his features