.

Decision.
Punctual to his fishing appointment with Kitty, Mr.Sarrazin was out in the early morning, waiting on the pier.
Not a breath of wind was stirring; the lazy mist lay asleep on the further shore of the lake.

Here and there only the dim tops of the hills rose like shadows cast by the earth on the faint gray of the sky.

Nearer at hand, the waters of the lake showed a gloomy surface; no birds flew over the colorless calm; no passing insects tempted the fish to rise.

From time to time a last-left leaf on the wooded shore dropped noiselessly and died.