I
Fessenden put the girl gently down on the flat rock at the edge of the
stream.
"There you are, little woman," he said. "You really ought to be careful
how you go splashing about. If you hadn't screamed in time----"
"Did I scream?"
"Rather! Lucky you did."
"I didn't scream because I was afraid. I stumbled and--and I thought I
saw an eel in that pool, ready to bite me. Eels _do_ bite."
"Undoubtedly--horribly!"
He stepped back with a little flourish of the hat in his hand. "I beg
your pardon," he said. "I took you for a child. That dress, you know,
and----"
"And my being in paddling."
"I'm afraid I've been rather presumptuous."
The color in her cheeks deepened a little. "Not at all. It's my own
fault. This afternoon--just for an hour or two--I've been
dreaming--pretending I wasn't grown up. It's so sad to be grown up."
His eyes sparkled with instant sympathy. "After all, are you so _very_
old?"
She was seventeen or thereabouts, he guessed--a girl lately arrived at
womanhood. Her hair was arranged in a bewildering fashion, requiring a
ribbon here and there to keep its blonde glory within bounds. Beneath
the dark brows and darker lashes blue eyes showed in sudden
flashes--like the glint of bayonets from an ambush. The delicately
rounded cheeks, just now a little blushing, and the red-lipped mouth,
made her look absurdly young.
She had sunk to a seat upon the rock. One foot was doubled under her,
and the other, a white vision veiled by the water, dangled uncertainly,
as if inclined to seek the retirement possessed by its fellow. His gaze
lingered on the curve of throat and shoulder.
"If Phidias were only alive----" he said.
"Phidias?"
[Illustration: "BUT YOU'VE BEEN STANDING IN THE WATER ALL THIS TIME!
WHAT AM I THINKING OF!"]
"A Greek friend of mine, dead some years. He would have loved to turn
you into marble."
She gave a little crowing laugh, delightful to hear. "I'd much rather
stay alive."
"You are right. Better be a Greek goddess alive, than one dead."