s barred
his path. He passed through them without knowing it, for indeed, they
were not rocks and trees at all, but only the souls of them; for this
was the Land of Shadows.

So he went on with winged feet till he came to the shores of a great
lake, with a lovely island in the middle of it; while on the bank of
the lake was a canoe of glittering stone, and in the canoe were two
shining paddles.

The chief jumped straight into the canoe, and seizing the paddles
pushed off from the shore, when to his joy and wonder he saw following
him in another canoe exactly like his own the maiden for whose sake he
had made this long journey. But they could not touch each other, for
between them rolled great waves, which looked as if they would sink
the boats, yet never did. And the young man and the maiden shrank with
fear, for down in the depths of the water they saw the bones of those
who had died before, and in the waves themselves men and women were
struggling, and but few passed over. Only the children had no fear,
and reached the other side in safety. Still, though the chief and the
young girl quailed in terror at these horrible sights and sounds, no
harm came to them, for their lives had been free from evil, and the
Master of Life had said that no evil should happen unto them. So they
reached unhurt the shore of the Happy Island, and wandered through the
flowery fields and by the banks of rushing streams, and they knew not
hunger nor thirst; neither cold nor heat. The air fed them and the sun
warmed them, and they forgot the dead, for they saw no graves, and the
young man's thoughts turned not to wars, neither to the hunting of
animals. And gladly would these two have walked thus for ever, but in
the murmur of the wind he heard the Master of Life saying to him,
'Return whither you came, for I have work for you to do, and your
people need you, and for many years you shall rule over them. At the
gate my messenger awaits you, and you shall take again your body which
you left behind, and he will show you what you are to do. Listen to
him, and have patience, and in time to come you shall rejoin her whom
you must now leave, for she is accepted, and will remain ever young
and beautiful, as when I called her hence from the Land of Snows.'

_THE WHITE DUCK_

Once upon a time a great and powerful King married a lovely Princess.
No couple were ever so happy; but before their honeymoon was over they
were forced to part, for th