One child, like all the others but for thinner legs and an abundance of pale freckles, looked up at him and asked if he would watch her shoes and stockings while she waded. This responsibility was heartening; and he sat down on the edge of the pool while she went in rather cautiously. The child seemed even more fragile among the vigorous ones who were shoving each other and kicking up the water. For a long time Martin watched her. “She might have been my own little daughter,” he said aloud at last; and immediately the mist seemed to fall more heavily from the fountain and the play to become more violent until he wished it over with. The thought of home—a child—serenities attendant, brought the conflicting inquiries of his life more sharply before him and he brooded. A few drops of cold water in his face stopped the course of these reflections and he looked up frowning, his eyebrows raised. It was the little girl. She was laughing at his discomposure.
“Yes. That’s why I threw the water. You looked cross. Did I keep you too long?”
“Not at all,” he answered, smiling at her. “You know quite well that wasn’t it at all. Furthermore, I shouldn’t be astonished if you _did_ know, right now, why I was cranky.”
“You’re the funniest person I ever knew,” she said. “You talk like a teacher.”
“I’m not a teacher; I’m a pupil,” Martin replied. “And I’m funny because I study funny things.”
“What kind of funny things?” asked the child, looking excited.
“Many things. I study lady tigers that take off their stripes every night and put them on in the morning quite differently and——”
“Why do they do that?” interrupted the girl.
“So they will be in style,” he continued seriously. “And I study dentist birds that repair alligators’ teeth; and mice that fly upside down.”
“Why!” exclaimed the girl somewhat indignantly, “I never heard such stories in my life!”
“That isn’t half,” said Martin. “Be very quiet now. Don’t move. Do you see that fly that lit on my knee? He’s looking for something to eat. There. He’s found it. Maybe I spilled sugar on my pants this morning. But do you see what he’s doing before he eats? He’s washing his face with his forelegs.”
The little girl watched carefully and saw the insect dip its head and bring its arms across its face like a brush. Suddenly she waved at it and the fly spun away.