GUINEVERE THE MYSTERIOUS 127 



suspended clay; and when the surface caught a 

 glint of light and reflected it, only the clay and 

 mud walls about came to the eye. It was a very 

 regular pool, a man's height in diameter, and, for 

 all I knew, from two inches to two miles deep. I 

 became absorbed in a sort of subaquatic mirage, 

 in which I seemed to distinguish reflections be- 

 neath the surface. My eyes refocused with a 

 jerk, and I realized that something had uncon- 

 sciously been perceived by my rods and cones, 

 and short-circuited to my duller brain. Where a 

 moment before was an unbroken translucent sur- 

 face, were now thirteen strange beings who had 

 appeared from the depths, and were mumbling 

 oxygen with trembling lips. 



In days to come, through all the months, I 

 should again and again be surprised and cheated 

 and puzzled — all phases of delight in the beings 

 who share the earth's life with me. This was one 

 of the first of the year, and I stiffened into one 

 large eye. 



I did not know whether they were fish, fairy 

 shrimps, or frogs; I had never seen anything like 

 them, and they were wholly unexpected. I so 

 much desired to know what they were, that I sat 

 quietly — as I enjoy keeping a treasured letter 



