At the end of it he perceived in the distance a purple line which separated those two heavens, the one floating the other immovable.
This purple line turned to red, and then to orange; afterwards it became brilliant as gold, illuminating the surface of the waters. The stars disappeared by degrees, and one would have said that day was about to dawn. All at once the moon again appeared, but it had hardly shone a moment when the light of the horizon eclipsed it in brilliancy.
“It is the dawn,” said Tito.
“On the contrary,” responded Death. “It is twilight, only that as we travel behind the sun, and much faster, the west appears to be the aurora, and the aurora the west. Here are the beautiful Azores!”
In truth a lovely group of islands appeared in the midst of the ocean.
The sad, evening light, breaking through the clouds and penetrating the mist of the rivers, gave an enchanting aspect to the archipelago.
Tito and Death passed over that oasis in the marine desert without stopping a moment.
In ten minutes more the sun appeared from the bosom of the waves, and rose a little on the horizon.
But Death stopped the chariot and the sun again sank.