ver beckoning, ever enticing, ever
cajoling, until at last it plunged straight at a wall of dense, tangled
underbrush, and, with a vixenish gurgle of delight at its own
blandishing duplicity, vanished underneath the low sweeping mass of
leaves without even so much as a good-by!

The pursuer was not to be daunted. Doggedly he fought his way around and
through the swampy underbrush and presently stood blinking his delighted
eyes in a little natural clearing that was a glorious climax to all the
tantalizing coquetry of the creek. Encircled by drooping, long-leaved
willows that were themselves enringed by stately trees, lay a broad,
deep pool, clear as crystal, one side carpeted with velvety turf and
screened with leafy draperies, and the whole canopied by the smiling
blue sky. With a cry of pleasure the young man hastily threw off his
clothing, and, as he undressed, a school-boy taunt whimsically recurred
to him.

"Last one in's a nigger!" he shouted to the squirrel that he caught
peering at him from the far side of a limb, and plunged into the pool.

One by one he gleefully tried all the old boyish tricks until at last,
tiring of them, he lay floating peacefully on his back, looking up at
the sky and covering the entire visible surface of it with air castles,
as young men will. There was no dusty road, no broiling hot sun, no six
miles of weary distance yet to cover.

There was a rustle and a patter among the trees. Two dogs came bounding
to the edge of the water and barked at the bather in friendly fashion.
They were bouncing big St. Bernards, but scarcely more than puppies, and
they capered and danced in awkward delight when he splashed water at
them. As a further evidence of their friendly feeling they suddenly
pounced upon his clothing.

"Hey there!" cried the bather, and scrambled out to rescue his apparel.
It was kind of him, the dogs thought, to take so much interest in the
game, and, not to be outdone in heartiness, they scampered off through
the woods, taking the clothes with them. All they left behind was his
hat, his shoes and one sock, his collar and cuffs and tie. He threw
sticks and stones after them and had started to chase them when a new
and dreadful sound smote on his ear. It was the voices of women!

There was but one safe hiding-place--the pool. With rare presence of
mind he concealed the pathetic remnant of his belongings and plunged
just in time, diving under a clump of low-hanging willows wher