A JOURNEY TO NATURE 



its centre. I imitated the yellow dog, and threw 

 myself on the slope, but Charlie went to work 

 promptly to dam up the outlet. I watched his 

 futile hydraulics with lazy interest for a few mo 

 ments, and then went and helped him with my 

 superior knowledge. I rolled the stones up and 

 piled them, while he stopped the interstices with 

 sod. It was very jolly to see the water put on 

 an air of timidity, and race round the basin as if 

 a little frightened and looking for an escape. I 

 tugged at heavier stones, digging them out of a 

 neighbouring bank with my fingers and rolling 

 them over with incredible toil. Both of us 

 vorked like slaves. There was something fasci 

 nating in the gracious conflict of the water. It 

 was like romping with a handsome hoydenish 

 girl, who as soon as you caught her eluded you 

 with bursts of laughter and little gurgles to run 

 off defiantly in a new direction. All at once 

 every interest in the world suspended itself while 

 that basin filled up. The element was so coy, 

 so gently self-willed, and so flashingly and musi 

 cally capricious, that the desire to subdue and 

 tame and possess it stirred some instinctive mas 

 culine impulse even in Charlie. I had no time 

 to think about it then, but I can see now that 

 we were savage Angelos painting a mural picture. 

 The little lake rose to us with fairy response. It 

 brimmed the basin, took on frills and furbelows 

 of ripples, flung out jubilates as it leaped over 

 our embankment. It snatched sky depths from 

 the air, and planted magical willowy islets with 



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