Page 38 (1/2)

The princess rose at dawn the following day She routed out Hans, the

head groom, and told him to saddle Artelish nobleiven to her Ten minutes later

she was in the saddle, and the heaviness on her heart seemed to rise

and vanish like the opal mists on the bosom of the motionless lake A

pale star blinked at her, and the day, flushed like the cheek of a

waking infant, began drowsily to creep over the rolling mountains

How silent all the city was! Only here and there above the chiates of the park shut behind her

with a clang, and so for a time she was alone and free She touched

Artemis with a spur, and the filly broke into a canter toward the lake

road The girl's nostrils dilated Every flower, the thousand

resinous saps of the forest, the earth itself, yielded up a cool sweet

perfulass of wine is to the blood,

exhilaration

Mottled with pink, and gray, and blue, and gold, the ever-changing hues

of the , the surface of the lake was as s beauty Fish leaped forth and fell

with a sounding splash, and the circles would widen and gradually