was not large,
but it was beautifully done. Flowers and shrubs, even a few small palms,
grew in profusion in the enclosure, while above, through the movable
glass roof--made in sections to disappear in fine weather--was the empty
blackness of the sky.

None of the lights provided for the illumination of the covered patio
was turned on, but all the windows surrounding the patio were aglow, and
I could see the pool quite clearly.

The pool--and its occupant.

* * * * *

We were standing at one side of the pool, near the center. Directly
opposite us, seated on the bottom of the pool, was a human figure, nude
save for a great mass of tawny hair that fell about her like a silken
mantle. The strangely graceful figure of a girl, one leg stretched out
straight before her, the other drawn up and clasped by the interlocked
fingers of her hands. Even in the soft light I could see her perfectly,
through the clear water, her pale body outlined sharply against the jade
green tiles.

I tore myself away from the staring, curious eyes of the figure.

"In God's name, Mercer, what is it? Porcelain?" I asked hoarsely. The
thing had an indescribably eery effect.

He laughed wildly.

"Porcelain? Watch ... _look_!"

My eyes followed his pointing finger. The figure was moving. Gracefully
it arose to its full height. The great cloud of corn-colored hair
floated down about it, falling below the knees. Slowly, with a grace of
movement comparable only with the slow soaring of a gull, she came
toward me, walking on the bottom of the pool through the clear water as
though she floated in air.

* * * * *

Fascinated, I watched her. Her eyes, startlingly large and dark in the
strangely white face, were fixed on mine. There was nothing sinister in
the gaze, yet I felt my body shaking as though in the grip of a terrible
fear. I tried to look away, and found myself unable to move. I felt
Mercer's tense, sudden grip upon my arm, but I did not, could not, look
at him.

"She--she's smiling!" I heard him exclaim. He laughed, an excited,
high-pitched laugh that irritated me in some subtle way.

She was smiling, and looking up into my eyes. She was very close now,
within a few feet of us. She came still closer, until she was at my very
feet as I stood on the raised ledge that ran around the edge of the
pool, her head thrown back, staring straight up at me through the
water.

I co