SON OF THE WIND
edge of the little balcony. No form, no face, either of woman or spirit. Nothing stirred in the clearing, nor in the angle made by the outside stair. The black likeness of it which the moon flung upon the ground, was as deep and opaque as any well; but even water shows faintly the forms beneath it. He leaned down over the rail and spoke her name under his breath. Not a sound replied. Feeling bewitched he descended the stair. Reaching the foot of it, immediately his ringers were grasped by a cool palm and he was drawn into the shadow.
Plunged into darkness with her he could see her. Her eyes looked black as the sky and radiant with excitement. The moon had taken the color from her lips. They were pale as an elf's. She took him by both arms and held, him off from her, looking at him up and down with a bright enigmatic gaze; but whether it demanded to know of him if he was indeed the greatest of men in the world, or whether it only spoke to him of the mystery of night, or some mystery beyond the night, it was impossible to tell. She laid a forbidding finger on his mouth when he would have kissed her. He tried to clasp her, but slippery as quicksilver she retreated before him.
"Come—this way," she murmured, and pulled him after her.
Half running he followed, keeping close under
274
