"Please stay a little longer and eat the rest of our lunch for supper," begged the children. The older people were quite willing.
"It is a good thing we can get plenty of good water from that spring," said Lucy's father. "It is nearly as cold as ice water and certainly as cold as anyone ever ought to drink. I should like to come here every day for the sake of a drink of it."
"I love to hear the water as it makes its way down over the rocks. They say the spring never dries up, even in the hottest days of summer," said Uncle Sam, who was standing near.
"Uncle Sam! A story, a story!" cried some one, as they settled themselves on the grass to eat chicken sandwiches and apple turnovers.
"That spring makes me think of something you might like to hear. It is true, though it is nearly as strange as a fairy story. I suppose the older ones all know it."
"Do tell it, Uncle Sam," cried the children, and their parents seemed as willing to listen as the little ones.
As the evening clouds changed from silver to gold and crimson, and the young moon peeped shyly out in the evening sky, Uncle Sam told the story of
THE FOUNTAIN OF EVERLASTING YOUTH
A long time ago there was a young knight in Spain named Ponce de Leon. He was gay and handsome, fond of dress and of good times. Columbus had made his voyages to America and come back to Spain to die.