Gentola—It is indeed; the moment we came here I noticed it draping that trellis and climbing up yonder wall. With its luxuriant foliage and profusion of pink blossoms, how very pretty it is. Poole did not tell me that it was an Ento vine, and when I questioned him he only said, "It is not of this Planet."
De L'Ester—That is just like him. I fancy that he thought to some time surprise you by showing you the original.
George—He has promised to meet us here, for indeed it was here that he sketched the Enrica vine which afterward he drew for Gentola̤. Always he is so prompt in his engagements that I am surprised that he has not yet arrived. While awaiting his coming we may look at this pretty fountain. The central figure of the group, holding aloft the cluster of rodels (the national flower) is very fine, indeed the entire composition of male and female figures is admirable. That sun illumined jet of water, thrown high into the air, thence felling downward envelops the group as with a shining veil. Gentola̤, Bernard, come and look into this basin.
Bernard—Mother, dear, as sure as anything these are gold and silver fishes. Do not they exactly resemble those you have on Earth? Yes, they are larger, and their tails and fins are oddly shaped; otherwise the resemblance is very close.
De L'Ester—Lohaû, lohaû, ēmano Poole. For some time George has been fretting and fuming over your late arrival; now he is so occupied as to be oblivious of your presence.
Aaron Poole—I greet you all, and I beg a thousand pardons for having kept you waiting.
George—Aaron, I shall no longer hold you up to admiring worlds as a model of punctuality. You are a full hour late.
Aaron Poole—Allow me to greet Gentola̤, then I shall explain my delay. Gentola̤, I rejoice that at last we meet face to face. Although for nearly ten years we have held frequent converse, and your face has grown as familiar to me as is my own, only now you see me.
Gentola—I am equally rejoiced that I can see you. Ever since I have known you and some other spirit friends, I have been curious as to your and their appearance. I have thought of you and of them as one thinks of physical personalities. Yet in some way I have formed nearly correct ideas of your and their forms and features. But I must say that you are taller than I had thought you might be.