RUNNING WATERS 
173 
The feeders of the pond are the tiny little 
threads of water that meet and join forces in 
pushing under grass and around stones, until 
a union of many of them makes the trickling 
stream. Originally these little threads are 
formed by the drops creeping along the seams of 
a rock and oozing out at the base, or they may 
come from the sloping surface of some ledge 
hidden under several feet of earth and moss. 
The earth and moss act as a sponge to catch the 
rain, which finally settling to the bottom, runs 
out along the bed rock. Small enough in 
themselves all these contributors of water taken 
together make the rivulet, which supplies the 
brook, which in turn supplies the river. The 
volume of the downpour is cumulative from 
the mountain to the shore, until at last the 
distillation of the hills, having passed through 
all its stages of life, spreads fan-like on the sur- 
face of the sea and is lost forever. 
The rivulet. 
