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- 



