.

THE HIDDEN CITY.
The two ports of the cabin were discs of scarlet, that pure translucent colour which comes from the reflection of sunset in leagues of still water.

The ship lay at anchor under the high green scarp of an island, but on the side of the ports no land was visible--only a circle in which sea and sky melted into the quintessence of light.

The air was very hot and very quiet.

Inside a lamp had been lit, for in those latitudes night descends like a thunderclap.