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the signs of it. Mountains, vales and sea were touched with
the clear light of the sun. 'It is there! said he, pointing
to the sea beyond Whitehaven' and there we perceived a light
vapour, unnoticeable but by a shepherd accustomed to watch
all mountain bodings. We gazed around again, and yet again,
unwilling to lose the remembrance of what lay before us in
that mountain solitude; and then prepared to depart.
Meanwhile, the air changed to cold, and we saw that tiny
vapour swelled into mighty masses of cloud, which came
boiling over the mountains. Great Gable, Helvellyn and
Skiddaw were wrapped in storm; yet Langdale, and the
mountains in that quarter, remained all bright in sunshine.
Soon the storm reached us; we sheltered under a crag; and
almost as rapidly as it had come, it passed away, and left
us free to observe the struggles of gloom and sunshine in
other quarters. Langdale had now its share; and the Pikes of
Langdale were decorated by two splendid rainbows. Before we
again reached Esk Hause, every cloud had vanished from every
summit."
We cannot do better than stop at these auspicious words. May
the tourist who reads this on the Pike see every cloud
vanish from every summit!
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