with the utmostcaution so as not to alarm the mysterious
vocalist, I crept on until, coming to a greenheart with a

quantity of feathery foliage of a shrub growing about its roots,
I saw that just beyond the tree the ground was more open still,

letting in the sunlight from above, and that the channel of the
stream I sought was in this open space, about twenty yards from

me, although the water was still hidden from sight. Something
else was there, which I did see; instantly my cautious advance

was arrested. I stood gazing with concentrated vision, scarcely
daring to breathe lest I should scare it away.

It was a human being--a girl form, reclining on the moss among
the ferns and herbage, near the roots of a small tree. One arm

was doubled behind her neck for her head to rest upon, while the
other arm was held extended before her, the hand raised towards a

small brown bird perched on a pendulous twig just beyond its
reach. She appeared to be playing with the bird, possibly

amusing herself by trying to entice it on to her hand; and the
hand appeared to tempt it greatly, for it persistently hopped up

and down, turning rapidly about this way and that, flirting its
wings and tail, and always appearing just on the point of

dropping on to her finger. From my position it was impossible to
see her distinctly" target="_blank" title="ad.清楚地，明晰地">distinctly, yet I dared not move. I could make out that

she was small, not above four feet six or seven inches in height,
in figure slim, with delicately shaped little hands and feet.

Her feet were bare, and her only garment was a slight
chemise-shaped dress reaching below her knees, of a whitish-gray

colour, with a faint lustre as of a silky material. Her hair was
very wonderful; it was loose and abundant, and seemed wavy or

curly, falling in a cloud on her shoulders and arms. Dark it
appeared, but the precise tint was indeterminable, as was that of

her skin, which looked neither brown nor white. All together,
near to me as she actually" target="_blank" title="ad.事实上；实际上">actually was, there was a kind of mistiness in

the figure which made it appear somewhat vague and distant, and a
greenish grey seemed the prevailing colour. This tint I

presently attributed to the effect of the sunlight falling on her
through the green foliage; for once, for a moment, she raised

herself to reach her finger nearer to the bird, and then a gleam
of unsubdued sunlight fell on her hair and arm, and the arm at

that moment appeared of a pearly whiteness, and the hair, just
where the light touched it, had a strange lustre and play of

iridescent colour.
I had not been watching her more than three seconds before the

bird, with a sharp, creaking little chirp, flew up and away in
sudden alarm; at the same moment she turned and saw me through

the light leafy screen. But although catching sight of me thus
suddenly, she did not exhibit alarm like the bird; only her eyes,

wide open, with a surprised look in them, remained immovably
fixed on my face. And then slowly, imperceptibly--for I did not

notice the actualmovement, so gradual and smooth it was, like
the motion of a cloud of mist which changes its form and place,

yet to the eye seems not to have moved--she rose to her knees, to
her feet, retired, and with face still towards me, and eyes fixed

on mine, finally disappeared, going as if she had melted away
into the verdure. The leafage was there occupying the precise

spot where she had been a moment before--the feathery foliage of
an acacia shrub, and stems and broad, arrow-shaped leaves of an

aquatic plant, and slim, drooping fern fronds, and they were
motionless and seemed not to have been touched by something

passing through them. She had gone, yet I continued still, bent
almost double, gazing fixedly at the spot where I had last seen

her, my mind in a strange condition, possessed by sensations
which were keenly felt and yet contradictory. So vivid was the

image left on my brain that she still seemed to be actually" target="_blank" title="ad.事实上；实际上">actually
before my eyes; and she was not there, nor had been, for it was a

dream, an illusion, and no such being existed, or could exist, in
this gross world; and at the same time I knew that she had been

there--that imagination was powerless to conjure up a form so
exquisite.

With the mental image I had to be satisfied, for although I
remained for some hours at that spot, I saw her no more, nor did

I hear any familiar melodious sound. For I was now convinced
that in this wild solitary girl I had at length discovered the

mysterious warbler that so often followed me in the wood. At
length, seeing that it was growing late, I took a drink from the

stream and slowly and reluctantly made my way out of the forest
and went home.

Early next day I was back in the wood full of delightful
anticipations, and had no sooner got well among the trees than a

soft, warbling sound reached my ears; it was like that heard on
the previous day just before catching sight of the girl among the

ferns. So soon! thought I, elated, and with cautious steps I
proceeded to explore the ground, hoping again to catch her

unawares. But I saw nothing; and only after beginning to doubt
that I had heard anything unusual, and had sat down to rest on a

rock, the sound was repeated, soft and low as before, very near
and distinct. Nothing more was heard at this spot, but an hour

later, in another place, the same mysterious note sounded near
me. During my remaining time in the forest I was served many

times in the same way, and still nothing was seen, nor was there
any change in the voice.

Only when the day was near its end did I give up my quest,
feeling very keenly disappointed. It then struck me that the

cause of the elusive creature's behaviour was that she had been
piqued at my discovery of her in one of her most secret

hiding-places in the heart of the wood, and that it had pleased
her to pay me out in this manner.

On the next day there was no change; she was there again,
evidently following me, but always invisible, and varied not from

that one mocking note of yesterday, which seemed to challenge me
to find her a second time. In the end I was vexed, and resolved

to be even with her by not visiting the wood for some time. A
display of indifference on my part would, I hoped, result in

making her less coy in the future.
Next day, firm in my new resolution, I accompanied Kua-ko and two

others to a distant spot where they expected that the ripening
fruit on a cashew tree would attract a large number of birds.

The fruit, however, proved still green, so that we gathered none
and killed few birds. Returning together, Kua-ko kept at my

side, and by and by, falling behind our companions, he
complimented me on my good shooting, although, as usual, I had

only wasted the arrows I had blown.
"Soon you will be able to hit," he said; "hit a bird as big as a

small woman"; and he laughed once more immoderately at the old
joke. At last, growing confidential, he said that I would soon

possess a zabatana of my own, with arrows in plenty. He was
going to make the arrows himself, and his uncle Otawinki, who had

a straight eye, would make the tube. I treated it all as a joke,
but he solemnlyassured me that he meant it.

Next morning he asked me if I was going to the forest of evil
fame, and when I replied in the negative, seemed surprised and,

very much to my surprise, evidently disappointed. He even tried
to persuade me to go, where before I had been earnestly

recommended not to go, until, finding that I would not, he took
me with him to hunt in the woods. By and by he returned to the

same subject: he could not understand why I would not go to that
wood, and asked me if I had begun to grow afraid.

"No, not afraid," I replied; "but I know the place well, and am
getting tired of it." I had seen everything in it--birds and

beasts--and had heard all its strange noises.
"Yes, heard," he said, nodding his head knowingly; "but you have

seen nothing strange; your eyes are not good enough yet."