“O, you’ll see when you get there,” said Mary Jay.
So Lucy took her mug and walked along. She found the gate very easily. It was small and easy to open. When Lucy had passed through, it shut of its own accord.
She found herself in a pretty, green yard, next to the backside of the house; and in the corner of this yard was the little building which Mary Jay had referred to. It was small; it had a roof and sides, but the front was open. It was almost covered and enveloped with woodbine. There was no floor, but there came up out of the ground, inside of the building, a small red post, with a little stream of water spouting out from it. Lucy went immediately to it, to see what it was.
There was a large, square board upon the ground before the post, which looked like the cover of a box, buried in the ground. The water from the post fell into a place just behind this box. She took hold of the edge of the board, to see if it would lift up like a cover. She wanted to see where the water went to.
She found that the board would lift up like the cover of a box; and under it there was a small, square cistern, full of water. Lucy put the cover down again immediately, partly because she was afraid that she might fall in, and partly because she happened to recollect that it was not right for her to open the cistern without leave.
Then Lucy held her mug under the stream of water which spouted out from the post, until the mug was full. Then she had a good drink. She afterwards held her mug under, and let it fill several times, pouring the water down upon the grass. When the water first struck upon the bottom of the mug, it made a sort of a drumming sound, which was gradually deadened as the bottom became covered with water. Then Lucy would watch the surface of the water as it rose slowly, until at length it would run over in streams, and fall into the cistern below.
While Lucy was sitting here, a door which led into the back part of the house, opened, and a girl came out, swinging a pail back and forth in her hand. The girl advanced towards the place where Lucy was, by a path which was well trodden. When she reached the cistern, she lifted up the cover; and then, dipping the pail in, she took up a pail full of water, and then shut the cover down.
“Well, Lucy,” said she, “how do you like the aqueduct?”
“Is this an aqueduct?” said Lucy.
“Yes,” said she; “here is where we get all our water.”