RUNNING WATERS 



173 



The feeders of the pond are the tiny little 

 threads of water that meet and join forces in 

 pushing under grass and around stones, until 

 a union of many of them makes the trickling 

 stream. Originally these little threads are 

 formed by the drops creeping along the seams of 

 a rock and oozing out at the base, or they may 

 come from the sloping surface of some ledge 

 hidden under several feet of earth and moss. 

 The earth and moss act as a sponge to catch the 

 rain, which finally settling to the bottom, runs 

 out along the bed rock. Small enough in 

 themselves all these contributors of water taken 

 together make the rivulet, which supplies the 

 brook, which in turn supplies the river. The 

 volume of the downpour is cumulative from 

 the mountain to the shore, until at last the 

 distillation of the hills, having passed through 

 all its stages of life, spreads fan-like on the sur- 

 face of the sea and is lost forever. 



The rivulet 



