14 EYE SPY 
doubtless have been so accepted by the average 
passing observer without further thought. 
The most luminous upper portions were free 
from bark, the exposed patches of wood below 
being equally brilliant. Clutching at the more 
available part of the post, I was enabled to sink 
my fingers deep into its decayed fibre, and suc- 
ceeded in tearing off a long fragment. The outer 
surface of this particular piece had been covered 
with bark and not especially brilliant, but the cav- 
ity of yielding moist fibre thus exposed, as well as 
the inner surface of the dislodged piece, poured 
forth a perfect flood of greenish light, indicating 
that the damp uncanny fire extended to the very 
core of the post, which was saturated with the 
phosphorescent essence. I laid this and other 
fragments in the back of the carriage, where its 
glare met our eyes whenever we turned to look 
upon it. 
Taking it beneath the lamp-light upon our re- 
turn home, it resolved itself into a very ordinary 
piece of yellowish rotten wood. In a more shaded 
corner of the room it appeared as though white- 
washed, and upon taking it into a closet or out 
into the night again its flame gradually rekindled, 
as though feeding upon the darkness, until it ap- 
peared precisely as when we found it. 
By enclosing the specimen in a tin box with 
moist moss I was enabled to prolong the efful- 
