"As they returned home, they passed a group of fishermen in their long
boots and flapped sou'-westers, looking somewhat anxiously seaward. Much
to Herbert's delight, they predicted a stiff gale, and probably a storm. A
low bank of cloud had gathered along the horizon, and the wind had already
freshened; the white spots were thicker on the waves, and the sound of
their trampling on the shore grew louder.
"After dinner, they sat at the window of their little parlour, looking out
over the sea, which grew darker and more sullen, ever as the afternoon
declined. The cloudy bank had risen and walled out the sun; but a narrow
space of blue on the horizon looked like the rent whence the wind rushed
forth on the sea, and with the feet of its stormy horses tore up the blue
surface, and scattered the ocean-dust in clouds. As evening drew on,
Herbert could keep in the house no longer. He wandered away on the
heights, keeping from the brow of the cliffs; now and then stooping and
struggling with a stormier eddy; till, descending into a little hollow, he
sunk below the plane of the tempest, and stood in the glow of a sudden
calm, hearing the tumult all round him, but himself in peace.
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