sing myself a cool draught,
when all at once, above the soft dashing and gurgling of the water, I
caught yet another sound--a low, warbling note, or succession of
notes, which might have been emitted by a bird. But it startled me
nevertheless--bird-like warbling sounds had come to mean so much to
me--and pausing, I listened intently. It was not repeated, and finally,
treading with the utmost caution so as not to alarm the mysterious
vocalist, I crept on until, coming to a greenheart with a quantity of
feathery foliage of a shrub growing about its roots, I saw that just
beyond the tree the ground was more open still, letting in the sunlight
from above, and that the channel of the stream I sought was in this open
space, about twenty yards from me, although the water was still hidden
from sight. Something else was there, which I did see; instantly my
cautious advance was arrested. I stood gazing with concentrated vision,
scarcely daring to breathe lest I should scare it away.

It was a human being--a girl form, reclining on the moss among the ferns
and herbage, near the roots of a small tree. One arm was doubled
behind her neck for her head to rest upon, while the other arm was held
extended before her, the hand raised towards a small brown bird perched
on a pendulous twig just beyond its reach. She appeared to be playing
with the bird, possibly amusing herself by trying to entice it on to
her hand; and the hand appeared to tempt it greatly, for it persistently
hopped up and down, turning rapidly about this way and that, flirting
its wings and tail, and always appearing just on the point of dropping
on to her finger. From my position it was impossible to see her
distinctly, yet I dared not move. I could make out that she was small,
not above four feet six or seven inches in height, in figure slim, with
delicately shaped little hands and feet. Her feet were bare, and her
only garment was a slight chemise-shaped dress reaching below her knees,
of a whitish-gray colour, with a faint lustre as of a silky material.
Her hair was very wonderful; it was loose and abundant, and seemed
wavy or curly, falling in a cloud on her shoulders and arms. Dark it
appeared, but the precise tint was indeterminable, as was that of her
skin, which looked neither brown nor white. All together, near to me as
she actually was, there was a kind of mistiness in the figure which made
it appear somewhat vague and distant, and a greenish grey seemed the