ture
has imposed upon them. But the helpless infants, the innocent children
of men, have a right to be happy until they become full-grown and able
to bear the trials of humanity. So I feel I am justified in assisting
them. Not long ago--a year, maybe--I found four poor children huddled
in a wooden hut, slowly freezing to death. Their parents had gone to a
neighboring village for food, and had left a fire to warm their little
ones while they were absent. But a storm arose and drifted the snow in
their path, so they were long on the road. Meantime the fire went out
and the frost crept into the bones of the waiting children."

"Poor things!" murmured the Queen softly. "What did you do?"

"I called Nelko, bidding him fetch wood from my forests and breathe
upon it until the fire blazed again and warmed the little room where
the children lay. Then they ceased shivering and fell asleep until
their parents came."

"I am glad you did thus," said the good Queen, beaming upon the Master;
and Necile, who had eagerly listened to every word, echoed in a
whisper: "I, too, am glad!"

"And this very night," continued Ak, "as I came to the edge of Burzee I
heard a feeble cry, which I judged came from a human infant. I looked
about me and found, close to the forest, a helpless babe, lying quite
naked upon the grasses and wailing piteously. Not far away, screened
by the forest, crouched Shiegra, the lioness, intent upon devouring the
infant for her evening meal."

"And what did you do, Ak?" asked the Queen, breathlessly.

"Not much, being in a hurry to greet my nymphs. But I commanded
Shiegra to lie close to the babe, and to give it her milk to quiet its
hunger. And I told her to send word throughout the forest, to all
beasts and reptiles, that the child should not be harmed."

"I am glad you did thus," said the good Queen again, in a tone of
relief; but this time Necile did not echo her words, for the nymph,
filled with a strange resolve, had suddenly stolen away from the group.

Swiftly her lithe form darted through the forest paths until she
reached the edge of mighty Burzee, when she paused to gaze curiously
about her. Never until now had she ventured so far, for the Law of the
Forest had placed the nymphs in its inmost depths.

Necile knew she was breaking the Law, but the thought did not give
pause to her dainty feet. She had decided to see with her own eyes
this infant Ak had told of, for she had never yet be