38 Lily and Water-Lily.

 

The children came up out of the water. Their
laughter, which was wont to ripple forth as merrily as
the brook itself, was stilled now, and their eyes were
no longer bright.

They dried their limbs upon the soft grass, and
stood hand-in-hand, thinking of how they should
amuse themselves,

They had never had to think before of how they
should amuse themselves; it had always come quite
naturally.

They stood there on the bank and watched the
stream sadly.

Presently a beautiful blue-and-green Aachen
darted past them like a flying emerald in the air.

“There,” said Pearl, “let us see if he is luckier
than we were, and if he will find any fish in the
torrent.”

They waited a while, and sure enough the king-
fisher, who had stood silently poised on the water's
edge, now made a dart down into the nearest pool
with its long bill, and brought up a little shining