Certainly, there was something
odd in this Bressant! Cornelia hardly knew whether he strongly repelled
or powerfully attracted her. She had half a mind to run back to the
house.
At this moment, however, they arrived at the fountain, and stood
silently contemplating its weak, persistent struggles. The heavy rain
had not raised its spirits a whit; but neither had it lessened its sense
of duty to be performed. It labored just as hard if not harder than
ever.
Presently Bressant walked round to the opposite side of the basin, shook
himself and stamped his feet, like one overcoming a feeling of
drowsiness, and then, stooping down, put his hand in the water and
brought some up to his forehead. It passed through Cornelia's mind that
she had read in her "Natural Philosophy," at school, that water was a
good conductor of electricity, but she could not establish any clear
connection between her remembrance of this fact and Bressant's action.
The results of thoughts often present themselves to us when the
processes remain invisible.
"What an absurd little fountain!" observed he, coming round again to
Cornelia, and looking down upon her with a smile that seemed to call for
a responsive one from her. "What is the use of it?"
"Oh, we're used to it, you know; and then that little sound it makes is
pleasant to listen to.
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