A mixture of light and darkness appeared in a corner of the eastern
sky, something like the reflection of a distant conflagration. The
light spread farther and farther, and swallowed many a star. It
looked as if some half-extinguished firebrand of a world had blazed
up again, and was burning brightly once more. But no! that was
neither a world-catastrophe nor a conflagration: some mysterious new
creation was struggling into existence. And after the noiseless
storm and battle of lights, the moon appeared, angry-looking, and
ragged-edged. In the light of the moon the speaker too looked
strange and fantastic, like a relic of a world that is no more.