Here Malvine and Wilhelm
seated themselves, while Willy played about with Fido. To the right
of the terrace was a narrow little bay where the shallow boat was
fastened in which they were to make their pleasure trip later on.
The boat was tied to a wooden landing-place, which inclosed the
little bay on the side away from the terrace, and from which a few
mossy steps led down to the water. The Alster was swollen with
melting snow and spring rains, and almost washed the foot of the
terrace; only one of the steps of the landing appeared above the
surface of the water. Willy, finding it rather dull on the terrace,
elected to play on the pier, and began jumping in and out of the
boat, into which Fido refused to follow him, as he was afraid of the
water.
The view was enchanting. The opposite shore gleamed silvery blue in
the delicate white light of a northern spring day. In the distance,
the masses of houses and the spires of Hamburg hung upon the horizon
like a faintly tinted, half-washed out transparency. A light breeze
ruffled the broad bosom of the Alster, and the red and green
steamboats plowed dark furrows in its brightness, which remained
there long after the boats had passed, and faded away finally in
many a serpentine curve.
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