Page 111 - Adventures in shadow-land

said to her, “ just dip your hand into the water,
and one of us will come to you. Then you must

ask for what you want, and if we can get it for
you we w ill; and when you are hungry we will
bring you something to eat.”

Eva thanked the trout, and said she would be
sure to ask when she wanted anything. And then

she took her hand out of the water, and the trout
went back to his place, and Eva lay down quietly

in the bottom of the boat, for she was tired of
sitting up, and looked at the roof of the cavern.

It was all rough and uneven, high above the water
in some places and near it in others, with bright
stones set here and there in it, which shone

and sparkled like diamonds or little stars when­
ever the boat passed under them, or the light from

the flames burning in the lily-cups, which Eva
called her lamps, fell upon them. But there was

no sign of life in the cavern, except that every
now and then things like bats, frightened by the

light, would fly out of holes in the wall away
back into the darkness.
The boat went on and on, though there seemed

no current in the water over which it glided, till,