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 



