“It was a sheet of pale brilliance that peeled swiftly away, sucked out of sight by some irresistible persuasion, leaving behind an expanse of silvery mud, miles and miles of it, trenched with glittering rills and scattered with dipping, wheeling, crying birds. Beyond the bay, the lake-country hills stood stark against the sky. They were deep blue, and still creased here and there with snow.”
