"
"Do fish ever clog your pipes?" asked Leo.
"Never. We have none in our lakes; the water is too pure and free from
vegetable matter for fish. It is doubly distilled. Taste it."
Leo took the glass which Knops offered, and confessed he had never
tasted anything more delicious.
"We sometimes force carbonic gas into mineral springs, but that, as well
as the salts considered so beneficial, is left to our chemists to
regulate. Paz, do you know anything about this?"
"Not much, Master Knops. I have seen iron in various forms introduced,
but think that is usually controlled by the earth's formation."
Leo sighed at his own ignorance, and vowed to study up these matters;
but Knops, seeing his look of dejection, asked, "How would you like a
bath?"
"Delightful. Where? Surely not in the lake; it looks so cold and glassy
I should not dare."
"Oh, no, no," laughed Knops. "Do you think I'd let you bathe in a
reservoir? Never! We are too cleanly for that, begging your pardon. Here
is our general bath. It's quite a tub, isn't it?"
"I should think so," said Leo, surveying quite a spacious apartment,
about which were pipes and faucets, clothes-lines and screens.
Here his friend left him, and he was glad to doff his garments for a
plunge. He found that he could make the water hot or cold at will, and
so luxurious was it that he would have stayed in any length of time had
not a crowd of elves come chattering in, and with whoop and scream
surrounded him.
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