is mad!"

The Kapellmeister went over to the painting on the wall and looked at
it. "A girl's head," he murmured, "he is right. It is more like a
'Pallas Athene' than a knight; but if it were not for the helmet
glittering, and the spear--"

Suddenly a remembrance came to him, and he struck his breast with his
hand, crying out: "It is no knight! It is Bruennhilde, young and fair,
with her eyes downcast! The light has fallen full on her face. She is
standing there, and the stage is dim; her voice is still in her throat,
dying away!"

Memory caught him then and he came nearer, shading his eyes with his
hand, staring. "She has hung on my wall for years and I never knew it!
It is she--it is her living image--her eyes and her brow--her lips
arched and quivering! It is herself!"

"Bruennhild'!" He lifted his arms: "Bruennhild'!"

CHAPTER XXII

The sun came shining in through the garret windows, dancing over the
floor in cones of light, caressing the geraniums until they gleamed a
rich scarlet against the green of the ivy; and the cobwebs glistened
like silk under the eaves. About the mill the doves flew in circles,
alighting on the sill, clinging to the ivy with their pink claws,
cooing gently, and pecking at the worm-eaten casement.

"Dear doves," said Kaya, "You are hungry, and when you come to me for
bread you find nothing but the stone. Chrr-rp!" She whistled softly
and held her hands over the sill, dropping crumbs: "Chrr-rp! Come,
pretty doves, and eat!"

The birds came nearer, eying her out of their bright eyes with little
runs forward, then circling and cooing again.

"Chrr-rp!" she called,--"Chrr-rp! Come!" And she held out her hands
as if coaxing: "Come, my doves! Chrr-rp!"

One with fawn-coloured wings came flying and lighted on her shoulder;
another followed.

"Come--chrr-rp!"

The soft little bodies huddled against one another on the sill,
pressing closer; some on her arm and some eating out of her hand. She
stroked their bright plumage, holding a crumb between her teeth.

"Chrr-rp--chrr-rp!"

The dove on her shoulder stretched his wings, pressing against her
cheek with his breast, tipping forward on his pink feet, until his beak
reached the crumb and he took it from her lips.

"Chrr-rp--chrr-rp!"

Kaya laughed softly, rubbing her cheek against the down of the bird;
whistling and coaxing with her hands. The doves flew about her,
lighting, struggling for footing on her s