When she awoke it was broad day and bright sun, and she rose up toher feet and looked about, and saw the horse standing close by, andsharing the shade with her, whisking his tail about lazily. Then sheturned, and saw the stream rippling out from the pool over the clean gravel,and here and there a fish darting through the ripple, or making clean ringson the pool as he quietly took a fly; the sky was blue and clear, there wasscarce a breath of air, and the morning was already hot; no worse thanyesterday sang the birds in the bushes; but as she looked across the river,where, forsooth, the alders grew thick about the pool's edge, a cockblackbird, and then another, flew out from the close boughs, where theyhad been singing to their mates, with the sharp cry that they use when theyare frighted. Withal she saw the bush move, though, as aforesaid, themorning was without wind. She had just stooped to do off her foot-gear(for she was minded to bathe again), but now she stopped with one shoe inher hand, and looked on the bushes keenly with beating heart, and againshe thought she saw the boughs shaken, and stood, not daring to move awhile; but they moved no more now when she had looked steadily at thema space, and again a blackbird began singing loud just where they hadbeen shaken. So she gathered heart again, and presently turned her handonce more to stripping her raiment off her, for she would not be baulked ofher bath; but when the stripping was done, she loitered not naked on thebank as she had done the day before, but walked swiftly into the shallow,and thence down into the pool, till nothing but her head and the whitenessof her shoulders showed over the dark water. Even then she turned herhead about twice to look into the over-side bushes, but when she sawnothing stir there she began to play in the water, but not for long, but camesplashing through the shallow and hurried on her raiment.
When she was clad again she went up to the horse, and patted andcaressed him, and did bridle and saddle on him, and was going to climbupon him, when, of a sudden, she thought she would lead him across, lest there should be a hole near the other bank and he might stumble into itunwarily; so she bared her feet once more and trussed up her gown skirts,and so took the ford, leading the beast; the water was nowhere up to mid-leg of her, and she stepped ashore on to short and fine grass, which spreadlike a meadow before her, with a big thorn or two scattered about it, and alittle grassy hill beset with tall elms toward the top, coming down into theflat of the meadow and drawing round it nearly up to the river on the northside.
But now she stood staring in wonder and some deal of fear; for therewere three milch kine feeding on the meadow, and, moreover, under athorn, scarce a hundred yards from where she stood, was a tall manstanding gazing on her. So stricken was she that she might neither cryout nor turn aside; neither did she think to pull her gown out of her girdleto cover the nakedness of her legs.
When they had thus stood a little while the man began to move towardher very slowly, nor did she dare to flee any the more. But when he waswithin half a dozen paces her face flushed red, and she did pull her gownout of its trusses and let it flow down. But he spake to her in a pleasantvoice, and said: "May I speak to thee, maiden?"
Fear was yet in her soul, so that she might not speak for a little, andthen she said: "O, I beseech thee, bring me not back to Greenharbour!"And she paled sorely as she spake the word.
But he said: "I wot not of Greenharbour, how to find the way thereto,though we have heard of it. But comfort thyself, I pray thee, there isnought to fear in me."
The sound of his voice was full pleasant to her, and when shehearkened him, how kind and frank it was, then she knew how much ofterror was blent with her joy in her newly-won freedom and the delight ofthe kind and happy words. Yet still she spoke not, and was bothshamefast and still not altogether unafraid. Yet, sooth to say, though hisattire was but simple, he was nought wild or fierce to look on. From timeto time she looked on him, and then dropped her eyes again. In thoseglances she saw that he was grey- eyed, and smooth-cheeked, and round-chinned, and his hair curly and golden; and she must needs think that she had never seen any face half so fair. He was clad but in a green coat thatcame not down to his knees, and brogues were tied to his feet, and nomore raiment he had; and for hat he had made him a garland of white mayblossom, and well it sat there: and again she looked on him, and thoughthim no worse than the running angel that goes before the throne of God inthe picture of the choir of Meadhamstead; and she looked on him andmarvelled.
Now she hung her head before him and wished he would speak, andeven so did he, and said: "Maiden, when I first saw thee from amidst ofthe bush by the river yonder, I deemed thou wert a wood-wight, or someone of the she-Gods of the Gentiles come back hither. For this is a lonelyplace, and some might deem that the Devil hath might here more than inother places; and when I saw thee, that thou wouldst do off thy raiment tobathe thee, though soothly I longed to lie hidden there, I feared thee, lestthou shouldst be angry with me if I were to see thee unclad; so I cameaway; yet I went not far, for I was above all things yearning to see thee;and sooth it is, that hadst thou not crossed the water, I should presentlyhave crossed it myself to seek thee, wert thou Goddess, or wood-wife, orwhatever might have come of it. But now thou art come to us, and I haveheard thy voice beseeching me not to bring thee to Greenharbour, I seethat thou art a woman of the kindred of Adam. And yet so it is, that evennow I fear thee somewhat. Yet I will pray thee not to be wroth if I ask theewhether I may do aught for thy need."
Now she began somewhat to smile, and she looked him full in the face,and said: "Forsooth, my need is simple, for I am hungry."
He smote himself on the breast, and said: "See now, what a greatfool I am, not to have known it without telling, instead of making long-winded talk about myself. Come quickly, dear maiden, and leave thinehorse to crop the grass."
So he hurried on to the thorn-bush aforesaid, and she went foot to footwith him, but he touched her not; and straightway she sat her down on theroot of the thorn, and smiled frankly on him, and said:
"Nay, sir, and now thou hast made me go all this way I am out ofbreath and weary, so I pray thee of the victual at once."
But he had been busy with his scrip which he had left cast down there,and therewithal reached out to her a mighty hunch of bread and a piece ofwhite cheese, and said:
"Now shall I fetch thee milk." Wherewith he took up a bowl of aspentree that had lain by the scrip, and ran off to one of the kine and milked thebowl full, and came back with it heedfully, and set it down beside her andsaid: "This was the nighest thing to hand, but when thou hast eaten andrested then shall we go to our house, if thou wilt be so kind to me; forthere have we better meat and wine to boot."
She looked up at him smiling, but her pleasure of the meat and thekindness was so exceeding, that she might not refrain from tears also, butshe spake not.