r, and my shield from the heats of
summer. Farewell, my parents, farewell!"

So saying, she sped faster than any could follow her to the margin of
the fairy wood, and in a moment was lost to sight.

As she had often thus withdrawn herself from the lodge, the parents were
not in fear, but confidently awaited her return. Hour chased hour, as
the clouds of evening rolled up in the west; darkness came on, but no
daughter returned. With torches they hastened to the wood, and although
they lit up every dark recess and leafy gloom, their search was in vain.
Leelinau was nowhere to be seen. They called aloud, in lament, upon her
name, but she answered not.

Suns rose and set, but nevermore in their light did the bereaved parents
eyes behold the lost form of their beloved child. Their daughter was
lost indeed. Whither she had vanished no mortal tongue could tell;
although it chanced that a company of fishermen, who were spearing fish
near the Spirit Grove, descried something that seemed to resemble a
female figure standing on the shore. As the evening was mild and the
waters calm, they cautiously pulled their canoe toward land, but the
slight ripple of their oars excited alarm. The figure fled in haste, but
they could recognize in the shape and dress as she ascended the bank,
the lost daughter, and they saw the green plumes of her fairy-lover
waving over his forehead as he glided lightly through the forest of
young pines.

XX.

THE WINTER-SPIRIT AND HIS VISITOR.

An old man was sitting alone in his lodge by the side of a frozen
stream. It was the close of winter, and his fire was almost out. He
appeared very old and very desolate. His locks were white with age, and
he trembled in every joint. Day after day passed in solitude, and he
heard nothing but the sounds of the tempest, sweeping before it the
new-fallen snow.

One day as his fire was just dying, a handsome young man approached and
entered his dwelling. His cheeks were red with the blood of youth; his
eyes sparkled with life, and a smile played upon his lips. He walked
with a light and quick step. His forehead was bound with a wreath of
sweet grass, in place of the warrior's frontlet, and he carried a bunch
of flowers in his hand.

"Ah! my son," said the old man, "I am happy to see you. Come in. Come,
tell me of your adventures, and what strange lands you have been to
see. Let us pass the night together. I will tell you of my prowess and
exploits, and wh