we
woke
up in a blue, almost dawn light. We were high on a dune, and there below us,
spread along the shore, were all the celebrants, their brilliant clothes fluttering
in the morning breeze. Just as the sun touched the horizon a great roar went
up, and two horsemen, riding bareback, splashed through the surf and swept
down the beach. Like a lifting curtain sunrise crept toward us across the
sand, and we shuddered at its coming, knowing that when it reached us we would
be back in our own century.