Mrs. Maxwell could feel her husband tremble. She was more disturbed at the sight of his unusual agitation than she allowed him to notice, and she answered quietly.

“We have spoken of it before, and you remember we agreed it might easily be caused by a number of things. You remember the peculiar light that flooded the sky several years ago when volcanic dust wafted around the world from the earthquake disturbances in the Pacific islands?”

“But there is something about this sighting wholly unlike all that. It is not an earthly light. It has a color and a radiance and a movement all its own. We have never in all our lives seen anything like it.”

“You are overly excited about it,” said Mrs. Maxwell, again placing her hand soothingly on her husband’s arm. “It cannot be anything but a natural light caused by some cosmic disturbance that we do not understand.” But even as she spoke, she could not resist an exclamation of wonder as she continued to gaze with her husband out through the window.

The softest suffusion of pale blue swept up from the horizon and was met by what seemed an answering wave of deep crimson. And as the two waves mingled, the colors were softly blended into a shade of pure white that could not be compared for one moment with the sun or moon or star light. It pulsated like a wave backward and forward, and filled not only the entire expanse of sky, but seemed as well to fill up all open spaces of the firmament. It fell over the earth like an immeasurable billow of radiance, the glittering spray thrown up against the stars, and then it subsided with a majestic slowness that spoke of all the world’s accumulated forces somewhere lying latent and unspent, ready at any future time to repeat its glory for the pleasure of those who had the spirit to understand it.

Henry Maxwell turned to his wife as the light softly disappeared.

“Mary, do you mean to tell me that such a light as that is caused by volcanic dust? Or an earthquake disturbance? It is the very glory of heaven. It could be the harbinger of his coming to earth again!” He was so excited and agitated that Mrs. Maxwell felt alarmed as she looked at him.

“It is not possible, Henry. You have allowed your imagination and your longing to get the better of your usual sound judgment. It is not like you to talk and act like this.”

Mrs. Maxwell drew down the shade of the window and Mr. Maxwell made a strong effort to regain his usual calm manner as he walked back into the library and sat down.

“I suspect you are right,” he said with a sigh. “But it is a very unusual sight and I cannot account for it. I wonder why the papers have not had more to say about it.”

“Mr. Norman mentioned it in the News yesterday.”