THE TEMPERATURE 65 



whole body of the water was frozen, as it 

 would quickly be, practically remaining 

 so through the winter and far into the 

 months of spring, the creatures could not 

 survive. All the species of them would 

 disappear. In his undogmatic but sug- 

 gestive way, Dr. Messel had added that 

 the fact of water being an exception 

 to the rule of fluids in relation to frost 

 was one of the most striking evidences 

 of intelligent design in the universe. 



I recalled this discourse in contemplat- 

 ing the string of beads which my fly-cast 

 had become. What had occurred to me 

 was that the stream, instead of being 

 water as commonly understood, H2O with 

 a temperature not below that of the 

 freezing-point, must be actually ice in 

 molecular motion, ice disguised in the 

 normal motion caused by what is known 

 as the law of gravity. This conjecture 

 would be conflrmed if anywhere I could 

 find solid water on the bed of the stream. 



I found it. 



On looking into an open patch a little 



