And Arthur's head sank upon his breast. "Yes, Helen," he said. When
he lifted it again, the girl was gone; she had disappeared in the
thicket, and he could hear her footsteps as she passed swiftly down
the hillside.

He went to the edge of the woods, where he could see her a short
distance below, hurrying down the path with a step as light and free
as ever. The wind had met her at the forest's edge and joined her
once more, playing about her skirts and tossing the lily again. As
Arthur watched her, the old music came back into his heart; his eyes
sparkled, and all his soul seemed to be dancing in time with her
light motion. Thus it went until she came to a place where the path
must hide her from his view. The young man held his breath, and when
she turned a cry of joy escaped him; she saw him and waved her hand
to him gaily as she swept on out of his sight.

For a moment afterwards he stood rooted to the spot, then whirled
about and laughed aloud. He put his hand to his forehead, which was
flushed and hot, and he gazed about him, as if he were not sure
where he was. "Oh, she is so beautiful!" he cried, his face a
picture of rapture. "So beautiful!"

And he started through the forest as wildly as any madman, now
muttering to himself and now laughing aloud and making the forest
echo with Helen's name. When he stopped again he was far away from
the path, in a desolate spot, but tho he was staring around him, he
saw no more than before. Trembling had seized his limbs, and he sank
down upon the yellow forest leaves, hiding his face in his hands and
whispering, "Oh, if I should lose her! If I should lose her!" As old