ON PLAIN AND PEAK 



And then I saw him again ! 



It was a lovely sunny evening, and the forest 

 seemed basking in the golden sunlight. Only the 

 Dismal Pool lay dark and sombre, like a great blot 

 in the midst of a sea of billowy green. The harsh 

 croaking of frogs arose from its black waters, but 

 save for their discordant clamour there was no sign 

 of life. No water-fowl rested on its surface, no fish 

 swam in its depths the very frogs were loathsome, 

 slimy creatures, that seemed to cast malignant 

 glances from their staring eyes. It was as if some 

 evil influence hovered round the spot, and spread 

 itself to me, for I shivered as I sat there, in spite of 

 the summer heat. 



I had my eyes fixed on the place where he had 

 appeared before, but I never saw him come. One 

 second and there was nothing but the sunlight on 

 the glade, and the long blue shadows cast by the 

 scattered bushes the next, he stood there, in the 

 middle of the bright sunshine ! 



And then I saw something that made my blood 

 run cold ! He seemed to have no shadow / The 

 rays from the setting sun shone where the shadow 

 should have been, as if no animal of solid flesh and 

 blood was there ! 



Was I dreaming, or was the whole thing an 

 hallucination ? I shut my eyes, and then looked 

 again. At this moment a light fleecy summer cloud 



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