It was a wonderful illusion to My unaccustomed eyes, and I took
in at that moment for the first time something of the real
grandeur of the ocean. Not a sail was in sight, and the blue
expanse was scarcely disturbed by a ripple, for it was the high-
tide calm. That morning's freshness, that vision of the sea, I
know I can never lose.
>From our garret window--and the garret was my usual retreat when
I wanted to get away by myself with my books or my dreams--we had
the distant horizon-line of the bay, across a quarter of a mile
of trees and mowing fields. We could see the white breakers
dashing against the long narrow island just outside of the
harbor, which I, with my childish misconstruction of names,
called "Breakers' Island"; supposing that the grown people had
made a mistake when they spoke of it as "Baker's." But that far-
off, shining band of silver and blue seemed so different from the
whole great sea, stretching out as if into eternity from the feet
of the baby on the shore!
The marvel was not lessened when I began to study geography, and
comprehended that the world is round.
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