Page 27 - Adventures in shadow-land

and glistened in golden beamy; and rainbows of

many colors surrounded it, so that Eva longed to
dip her hands in its joyous flow* while the wa­

ters as they fell tinkled merrily like silvery fairy
bells; and she came nearer and nearer, thinking

she had never heard such sweet music as this
water made* till she was within a few feet of the

fountain.
But when there she paused,. For, out of the

earth,— all round and even under the dropping
spray and the falling waters,— sprang myriads of

little rainbow-colored flames, which danced -to
and fro among and under the water-drops,— like a

circle of tiny, fiery sentinels, guarding the fount­
ain. And Eva, afraid to cross this circle of

flames, for which she was unprepared, would not
have ventured nearer, but that at this very mo­

ment the little stick which she held turned in her
hand, and pointed downward; and then Eva saw

that it pointed to a little path, like that by which
she had come, which ran around the fountain;

and the child followed the path, until she had
walked once, twice, thrice, around the playing

waters, and yet, though she looked for it, found