V

THE OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED ON THE CANAL


In front of the White House with the Green Blinds by the Side of the
Road was the Canal; and beyond the Canal the River. They always flowed
along side by side, and Marmaduke thought they were like two brothers.
The Canal was the older brother, it was always so sure and steady and
ready for work. It flowed steadily and evenly and carried the big
canal-boats down to the Sea. The River also flowed towards the Sea,
but it wasn't at all steady, and never quiet. It was indeed like the
younger brother, ever ready for play, although, as a matter of fact,
it had been there long before the Canal had been even thought of by
the men who built it. But thousands of years couldn't make that River
grow old. It was full of frolicsome ripples that gleamed in the sun,
and of rapids and waterfalls. Here it would flow swiftly, and there
almost stop as if it wanted to fall asleep. And every once in a while
it would dart swiftly like small boys or dogs chasing butterflies.
Sometimes it would leap over the stones or, at the dam, tumble
headlong in sheets of silver.

Little fish and big loved to play in its waters. Of course they swam
in the Canal too, but life was lazier there and the fish, like
Marmaduke, seemed to prefer the River. There were pickerel and trout
and catfish and eels, and in the Spring the great shad would come in
from the Sea and journey up to the still cool pools to hatch out their