“Shall we go to bed?” asked Marie, late in the evening.
“Well,” said Alys, rather gravely, “to tell you the truth, I feel too excited to sleep.”
She was standing at the window looking at a livid sky.
Marie rose from her work at the table and joined her sister.
“Look!” said Alys; “isn’t it wonderful? I think it’s going to be one of the big fires of history. Some day children will learn about this in school-books.”
Marie put her arm round her sister’s neck and patted her cheek.
“Yes, little princess, it is wonderful. Look at that smoke, how it rolls and writhes!—just as though it felt angry.”
Alys nodded and nestled closer to her sister.
“Are you afraid?” asked Marie.
“Oh, no: not afraid: it is too beautiful to make me afraid. Perhaps I am what is called awe-struck.”