whistling a lively air. He knew that I always threw my cloak
over my head and shoulders as a protection from the sun and

stinging flies when coming out of the water, and so his suspicion
was not aroused, and I was not followed. The pool was about ten

minutes' walk from the house; I arrived at it with palpitating
heart, and going round to its end, where the stream was shallow,

sat down to rest for a few moments and take a few sips of cool
water dipped up in my palm. Presently I rose, crossed the

stream, and began running, keeping among the low trees near the
bank until a dry gully, which extended for some distance across

the savannah, was reached. By following its course the distance
to be covered would be considerably increased, but the shorter

way would have exposed me to sight and made it more dangerous. I
had put forth too much speed at first, and in a short time my

exertions, and the hot sun, together with my intenseexcitement,
overcame me. I dared not hope that my flight had not been

observed; I imagined that the Indians, unencumbered by any heavy
weight, were already close behind me, and ready to launch their

deadly spears at my back. With a sob of rage and despair I fell
prostrate on my face in the dry bed of the stream, and for two or

three minutes remained thus exhausted and unmanned, my heart
throbbing so violently that my whole frame was shaken. If my

enemies had come on me then disposed to kill me, I could not have
lifted a hand in defence of my life. But minutes passed and they

came not. I rose and went on, at a fast walk now, and when the
sheltering streamed ended, I stooped among the sere dwarfed

shrubs scattered about here and there on its southern side; and
now creeping and now running, with an occasional pause to rest

and look back, I at last reached the dividing ridge at its
southern extremity. The rest of the way was over comparatively

easy ground, inclining downwards; and with that glad green forest
now full in sight, and hope growing stronger every minute in my

breast, my knees ceased to tremble, and I ran on again, scarcely
pausing until I had touched and lost myself in the welcome

shadows.
CHAPTER XIV

Ah, that return to the forest where Rima dwelt, after so anxious
day, when the declining sun shone hotly still, and the green

woodland shadows were so grateful! The coolness, the sense of
security, allayed the fever and excitement I had suffered on the

open savannah; I walked leisurely, pausing often to listen to
some bird voice or to admire some rare insect or parasitic flower

shining star-like in the shade. There was a strangely delightful
sensation in me. I likened myself to a child that, startled at

something it had seen while out playing in the sun, flies to its
mother to feel her caressing hand on its cheek and forget its

tremors. And describing what I felt in that way, I was a little
ashamed and laughed at myself; nevertheless the feeling was very

sweet. At that moment Mother and Nature seemed one and the same
thing. As I kept to the more open part of the wood, on its

southernmost border, the red flame of the sinking sun was seen at
intervals through the deep humid green of the higher foliage.

How every object it touched took from it a new wonderful glory!
At one spot, high up where the foliage was scanty, and slender

bush ropes and moss depended like broken cordage from a dead
limb--just there, bathing itself in that glory-giving light, I

noticed a fluttering bird, and stood still to watch its antics.
Now it would cling, head downwards, to the slender twigs, wings

and tail open; then, righting itself, it would flit from waving
line to line, dropping lower and lower; and anon soar upwards a

distance of twenty feet and alight to recommence the flitting and
swaying and dropping towards the earth. It was one of those

birds that have a polished plumage, and as it moved this way and
that, flirting its feathers, they caught the beams and shone at

moments like glass or burnished metal. Suddenly another bird of
the same kind dropped down to it as if from the sky, straight and

swift as a falling stone; and the first bird sprang up to meet
the comer, and after rapidly wheeling round each other for a

moment, they fled away in company, screaming shrilly through the
wood, and were instantly lost to sight, while their jubilant

cries came back fainter and fainter at each repetition.
I envied them not their wings: at that moment earth did not seem

fixed and solid beneath me, nor I bound by gravity to it. The
faint, floating clouds, the blue infinite heaven itself, seemed

not more ethereal and free than I, or the ground I walked on.
The low, stony hills on my right hand, of which I caught

occasional glimpses through the trees, looking now blue and
delicate in the level rays, were no more than the billowy

projections on the moving cloud of earth: the trees of unnumbered
kinds--great more, cecropia, and greenheart, bush and fern and

suspended lianas, and tall palms balancing their feathery foliage
on slender stems--all was but a fantastic mist embroidery

covering the surface of that floating cloud on which my feet were
set, and which floated with me near the sun.

The red evening flame had vanished from the summits of the trees,
the sun was setting, the woods in shadow, when I got to the end

of my walk. I did not approach the house on the side of the
door, yet by some means those within became aware of my presence,

for out they came in a great hurry, Rima leading the way, Nuflo
behind her, waving his arms and shouting. But as I drew near,

the girl dropped behind and stood motionlessregarding me, her
face pallid and showing strong excitement. I could scarcely

remove my eyes from her eloquentcountenance: I seemed to read in
it relief and gladness mingled with surprise and something like

vexation. She was piqued perhaps that I had taken her by
surprise, that after much watching for me in the wood I had come

through it undetected when she was indoors.
"Happy the eyes that see you!" shouted the old man, laughing

boisterously.
"Happy are mine that look on Rima again," I answered. "I have

been long absent."
"Long--you may say so," returned Nuflo. "We had given you up.

We said that, alarmed at the thought of the journey to Riolama,
you had abandoned us."

"WE said!" exclaimed Rima, her pallid face suddenly flushing.
"I spoke differently."

"Yes, I know--I know!" he said airily, waving his hand. "You
said that he was in danger, that he was kept against his will

from coming. He is present now--let him speak."
"She was right," I said. "Ah, Nuflo, old man, you have lived

long, and got much experience, but not insight--not that inner
vision that sees further than the eyes."

"No, not that--I know what you mean," he answered. Then, tossing
his hand towards the sky, he added: "The knowledge you speak of

comes from there."
The girl had been listening with keen interest, glancing from one

to the other. "What!" she spoke suddenly. as if unable to keep
silence, "do you think, grandfather, that SHE tells me--when

there is danger--when the rain will cease--when the wind will
blow--everything? Do I not ask and listen, lying awake at night?

She is always silent, like the stars."
Then, pointing to me with her finger, she finished:

"HE knows so many things! Who tells them to HIM?"
"But distinguish, Rima. You do not distinguish the great from

the little," he answered loftily. "WE know a thousand things,
but they are things that any man with a forehead can learn. The

knowledge that comes from the blue is not like that--it is more