pt silently away to his room; and in the excitement of congratulation
and praise, as actors and audience mingled together, and the Signorina
was receiving the commendations of the Prince, he was not missed.

He could not stay in this place--that at least was clear to him. He must
escape. He must return to nature, to the woods and birds, to children
and to children's sports. These gibing grimaces, these endless bowings
and scrapings and false compliments, known of all to be false, would
choke him if he stayed. He must escape from the house of frivolity into
the soft, gracious outer air of sincerity and truth.

He cried himself to sleep: all through the night, amid fitful slumber,
the crowd of masques jostled and mocked at him; the weird strains of
unknown instruments reached his half-conscious bewildered sense. Early
in the morning he awoke. There had been rain in the night, and the
smiling morning beckoned him out.

He stole down some back stairs, and found a door which opened on gardens
and walks at the back of the palace. This he managed to open, and went
out.

The path on which the door opened led him through rows of fruit-trees
and young plantations. A little forest of delicate boughs and young
leaves lifted itself up against the blue sky, and a myriad drops
sparkled in the morning sun. The fresh cool air, the blue sky, the
singing of the birds, restored Mark to himself. He seemed to see again
the possibility of escape from evil, and the hope of righteousness and
peace. His whole spirit went out in prayer and love to the Almighty, who
had made these lovely things. He felt as he had been wont to do when, on
a fine Sunday, he had walked home with his children in order, relating
to them the most beautiful tales of God. He wandered slowly down the
narrow paths. The fresh-turned earth between the rows of saplings, the
beds of herbs, the moist grass, gave forth a scent at once delicate and
searching. The boy's cheerfulness began to return. The past seemed to
fade. He almost thought himself the little schoolmaster again.

After wandering for some time through this delicious land of perfume, of
light, and sweet sound, he came to a very long but narrow avenue of old
elm trees that led down a gradual slope, as it seemed, into the heart of
the forest. Beneath the avenue a well-kept path seemed to point with a
guiding hand.

He followed the path for some distance, and had just perceived what
seemed to be an old manor-hous