em could be
seen. But they were so lifelike in their subdued color in the shade that
he was for a moment startled.

The water looked deliciously cool. An audacious thought struck him. He
was alone, and the place was a secluded one. He knew there were no other
visitors; the marble basin was quite hidden from the rest of the garden,
and approached only from the path by which he had come, and whose entire
view he commanded. He quietly and deliberately undressed himself under
the willows, and unhesitatingly plunged into the basin. The water was
four or five feet deep, and its extreme length afforded an excellent
swimming bath, despite the water-lilies and a few aquatic plants that
mottled its clear surface, or the sedge that clung to the bases of the
statues. He disported for some moments in the delicious element, and
then seated himself upon one of the half-submerged plinths, almost
hidden by reeds, that had once upheld a river god. Here, lazily resting
himself upon his elbow, half his body still below the water, his
quick ear was suddenly startled by a rustling noise and the sound of
footsteps. For a moment he was inclined to doubt his senses; he could
see only the empty path before him and the deserted terrace. But the
sound became more distinct, and to his great uneasiness appeared to
come from the OTHER side of the fringe of willows, where there was
undoubtedly a path to the fountain which he had overlooked. His clothes
were under those willows, but he was at least twenty yards from the bank
and an equal distance from the terrace. He was about to slip beneath the
water when, to his crowning horror, before he could do so, a young girl
slowly appeared from the hidden willow path full upon the terrace. She
was walking leisurely with a parasol over her head and a book in her
hand. Even in his intense consternation her whole figure--a charming
one in its white dress, sailor hat, and tan shoes--was imprinted on his
memory as she instinctively halted to look upon the fountain, evidently
an unexpected surprise to her.

A sudden idea flashed upon him. She was at least sixty yards away;
he was half hidden in the reeds and well in the long shadows of the
willows. If he remained perfectly motionless she might overlook him at
that distance, or take him for one of the statues. He remembered also
that as he was resting on his elbow, his half-submerged body lying on
the plinth below water, he was somewhat in the attitude of one of th