n you fell
asleep I watched over you. It is not your heart that is beating so fast;
it is mine! The colour has come back to your cheeks and the light to
your eyes. You slept while I guarded you. My eyes were heavy, but I
dared not shut them; I watched the folds of your jacket rising and
falling, the breath as it came through the arch of your lips; the gold of
your curls against the straw; the oval of your cheek and your lashes. My
eyes never closed.--I have given up everything for you, Kaya, my life and
my art."

He stretched out his arms to her again, and his dark eyes gazed into her
blue ones, passionate and eager.

"--Kaya!"

She put out her hand and touched his:

"Sleep, Velasco. Your life is safe and your art. You have given them to
me, but I will give them back again. Break off a piece of the bread,
Velasco, and we will talk a little together while we eat. We have been
such good comrades, you and I, and we care for one another--as comrades
do. If you should die or--or leave me, it would break my heart--you know
that."

"Ah, kiss me--Kaya! Let me take you in my arms! Come to me and let me
kiss you on your lips!"

"You hurt me, Velasco, your hands are so strong! Not on the
lips--Velasco--not on the--lips! I beseech you, dear friend,--I--"

The gypsey held her close to him for a moment, his heart beating against
hers, and then he turned away his head. "I love you, Kaya; I love you!
Kiss me of your own will. I can't force you--how can I? Your hands are
struggling in mine, but they are soft like the down on a bird's breast!
Some day you will come to me, Kaya, some day--when you love me too.
When--ah! The touch of your hands, your hair against my cheek sets my
blood on fire! Feel my pulse how it throbs! It is like a storm under
the skin! I suffer, little Bradjaga--little comrade!"

"Don't suffer!" cried the girl, "Let me go, Velasco, let me go! We will
sit here together, side by side; be my comrade again, my big brother!
Laugh, Velasco! Smile at me! When you look like that and come so close,
I am frightened! Don't tease me any more! The bread is hard like a nut;
see, I will crack it between my teeth. Where is the honey-cake, Velasco?
Give me a piece."

"Do you care for me, Kaya? Look me in the eyes and tell me."

The girl pushed him away from her slowly and turned away her head with a
flush: "Is that your violin over there in the straw, lying in a little
nest all by itself,--crad