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 
