He could feel it pasty on
his tongue, gritty on his lips, grimy on his face. It had stiffened his
hair, clogged his nostrils, sifted through his clothing, settled into
his shoes. It was everywhere and all-pervading.

The forbidden creek, in the very refinement of derision, suddenly
bubbled into a bar of clinking song--a perfect ecstasy of crystal
notes--then as suddenly died down, babbling and gurgling, and flowed
smoothly on, whispering and murmuring to itself of the delights to come
in the heart of the cool woods. Just here, with a swift sweep between
mossy, curved banks, the stream turned its back to him and hurried away
among the trees with a coy invitation that was well-nigh maddening. He
remembered just such a creek as that where, as a boy, he had used to go
with his companions after school.

How delightful those boyish swims had been! In fancy he could still feel
the chill shock as he had plunged in, the sharp catching of his breath,
the resounding splash, the shower of icy drops, the soft yielding of the
water--then the delicious buoyancy that had pervaded his limbs. He
wondered, with a whimsical smile, how long he could "stay under," and if
he could hold his eyes open while he dived, and if he could still swim
"dog fashion" and back-handed on his back, and if he could float and
tread water and "turtle."

How cool and shady and restful it looked in there! Just before the creek
turned behind a clump of dogwood, a patch of sunlight lay on it,
shooting down through the misty twilight of broad oak trees, and the
surface of the water dimpled and glinted and laughed and flirted at him,
before it slipped away into leaf-dimmed sylvan solitudes, in a way that
was not to be longer resisted. He gave one more glance of distaste at
the white hot road and gave up the struggle.

"Here goes the 'especial man,'" he said, looking up at the sign in
smiling defiance, and forced his way through the hedge.

What a coquettish little stream that was! It leaped merrily down tiny,
boulder-strewn inclines to show him how light-hearted and care-free it
could be; it flowed sedately between narrow banks of turf to display its
perfect propriety; it coyly hid behind walls of graceful, slender
willows; it danced impudently into the open and dashed across clear
spaces in frantic haste to escape him; it spread out, clear and limpid,
upon little bars of golden sand, pretending frankly to reveal its pure,
inmost depths; then raced on again, e