As we moved away from the quay, it seemed to me that our steamer was steering straight for the Hesperides.
All the west was one great blazing field of red and gold, and the sun was low on the broad water's edge, while behind us the fair city of Antwerp lit sparkling lights in all her windows, and the old Cathedral rose high into the sunlight, with the Belgian banner fluttering from a pinnacle; and that is how I shall always see Antwerp, fair, and stately, and sun-wreathed, as she was that golden September afternoon.
When I think of her, I refuse to see her any other way!
I refuse to see her as she was when I came back to her.
Or as when I left her again for the Last Time.
CHAPTER X
FROM GHENT TO GRAMMONT
I don't know why we were all in such high spirits, for we had nothing but discomfort to endure.
And yet, out of that very discomfort itself, some peculiar psychic force seemed to spring to life and thrive, until we became as merry as crickets.