Helen knew when that dark hour before dawn had passed, and she welcomed an almost imperceptible lightening in the east.

Then the stars paled.

Gradually a grayness absorbed all but the larger stars.

The great white morning star, wonderful as Helen had never seen it, lost its brilliance and life and seemed to retreat into the dimming blue.
Daylight came gradually, so that the gray desert became distinguishable by degrees.

Rolling bare hills, half obscured by the gray lifting mantle of night, rose in the foreground, and behind was gray space, slowly taking form and substance.