Thitherward, and alone,
the motherless youth bent his steps in the soft glow of sunset. The
stillness of the place was broken only by the whisper of the trees
overhead, the faint hum of insects, and the low murmur of the lapping
waters of the lake. Walking with downbent head and step so light that
his footfall made no slightest sound upon the young grass in his path,
he did not see the form of a half wild, wholly beautiful girl, emerge
from the deep gloom of the woods before him. Nor did she observe him,
for her attention was wholly bent upon the armful of forest-flowers,
which she let fall upon the grave with a passionate gesture of grief.
The young man, looking up in startled amaze, recognized the strange,
fantastic figure that had fled before his approach on the evening of
his return home. He scarcely noticed her odd costume of mingled blue
and yellow, so drawn was he to the dusky splendour of her face. The
warm vitality of the mantling cheek, and the charm of the lustrous
lips, were matched in hue by a blood-coloured 'kerchief, carelessly
knotted about the supple, tawny throat, behind which streamed a
profuse abundance of deep-black hair.
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