light in it; and as the hours went on, it grew brighter and brighter,
until it was almost too brilliant to look at; and late in the afternoon,
the sun broke out so gloriously that Irene clapped her hands, crying,
"See, see, Lootie! The sun has had his face washed. Look how bright he
is! Do get my hat, and let us go out for a walk. Oh dear! oh dear! how
happy I am!"
Lootie was very glad to please the princess. She got her hat and cloak,
and they set out together for a walk up the mountain; for the road was
so hard and steep that the water could not rest upon it, and it was
always dry enough for walking a few minutes after the rain ceased. The
clouds were rolling away in broken pieces, like great, overwoolly sheep,
whose wool the sun had bleached till it was almost too white for the
eyes to bear. Between them the sky shone with a deeper and purer blue,
because of the rain. The trees on the road-side were hung all over with
drops, which sparkled in the sun like jewels. The only things that were
no brighter for the rain, were the brooks that ran down the mountain;
they had changed from the clearness of crystal to a muddy brown; but
what they lost in color they gained in sound--or at least in noise, for
a brook when it is swollen is not so musical as before. But Irene was in
raptures with the great brown streams tumbling down everywhere; and
Madhuri Noah
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