168 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.

“ Where does it come from, at first?” said
Lucy.

“Tt comes from a spring,” said her mother, “I
suppose. Some springs break out of the ground
from under a rock.”

“© What makes the spring ?” asked Lucy.

* Why, the water in the mountains above,” re-
plied her mother, “presses down in among the
rocks, and wherever there is a crevice in the rock
near the surface of the ground, the water come$
out.”

“‘ But what makes there be water in the moun-
tains above?” asked Lucy.

“Tt comes from rains.”

“ Then I should think that, when it had done
raining, it would pretty soon stop coming ‘out in
the spring.”

“¢ No,” said her mother ; “it takes a great while
to drain off. The earth, and the moss, and the
roots, and the stones, hold the water like a great
sponge. It slowly soaks down, and gets into the
crevices and fissures, and so runs out in a steady
stream, wherever a fissure or any opening of the
rock comes out to the surface. Still, if it has not
rained for a very long while, the springs begin to
grow low, and some of them stop running
entirely.” .

They staid at this place mote than an hour.
After they had eaten their luncheon, they rambled
about among the rocks, and along the shore,
gathering flowers. Lucy amused herself in pick-
ing up pebbles and throwing them into the water.