Page:Cornelia Meigs--The Pool of Stars.djvu/79

 forestall any questioning; "I thought that he would be coming after us."

The solemn figure of the crow came hopping along the path, pausing to peer under stones or behind bushes for snails. With great dignity he stepped across the grass to sit on the rim of the pool.

"Is it deep?" Elizabeth asked, looking down into the quiet water that reflected Dick's image so clearly.

"It is at one side, but not at the other," Miss Miranda answered. "Just here you can touch the bottom if you stretch your arm, but it slopes sharply and is deep enough for swimming over at the other edge. Watch the water and, as it grows darker, you will see the stars come out. Just above the reflection of that tallest pine tree will be the big stars of the Lion, and the curve of the Sickle."

The twilight fell as they sat there talking until, it seemed to Betsey almost by magic, there was the bright star twinkling in the water just as Miss Miranda had said, with other pinpoints of light that grew gradually clearer to show the golden Sickle and the white blur of the Milky Way.

"It is strange how I always loved to watch them," Miss Miranda said, peering into the quiet water as intently as Betsey; "I used to see all the Signs of the Zodiac, that I believed from their name were so mysterious, but that were pictured here so plainly, month by month, that they became as simple as