older than was my mother. Are they kind to thee? said the lad, laughing that he must cast back her question. Whiles, said she, laughing also, and whiles not: maybe that is because I am not always kind to them, as thou art to thy folk. He answered nought, and she was silent awhile; then he said: What is in thy mind, maiden? This, she said, that I am thinking how fair a chance it was that I should have seen thee, for thou hast made me so glad. Said he: We can see each other again belike and make it less of a chance. O yea, she said, and was silent awhile. Said he: I wot not why it was that thou wert in the cave: and tell me, is it not exceeding perilous, the climbing up and down? why wilt thou do that? Also I must tell thee, that this was another cause why I thought thou wert of Faery, that thou camest out of the cave.
Said she: I will tell thee all about the cave; but first as to the peril of going thither and coming thence: wouldst thou be very sorry if I were lost on the way? Yea, said he, exceeding sorry. Well, said she, then fear it not, for it is so much a wont of mine that to me there is no peril therein: yet am I glad that thou wert afraid for me. I was sore afraid, said Osberne. Now as to the cave, said the maiden. I found it out two years ago, when I was very little, and the women had been less than kind to me. And thither may I go whenas I would that they should seek me not; because folk say that it is a dwelling of the Dwarfs, and they fear to enter it. Besides, when I think
