The valley now spread out clearly under the bright sky.

The sun was still behind the hills, but a stream of crystal light, limpid and cold as spring-water, flowed from the pale horizon.

In the distance, the Viorne, like a white satin ribbon, disappeared among an expanse of red and yellow land.

It was a boundless vista, with grey seas of olive-trees, and vineyards that looked like huge pieces of striped cloth.

The whole country was magnified by the clearness of the atmosphere and the peaceful cold.