his quiet island here, where no cross old people will
disturb us, and where we are sheltered from the storm that rages
beyond.'

[Illustration: Amid the sweet-scented grass, safe from the fury of the
storm]

Then Huldbrand forgot all about the old man who was still seeking for
his child, forgot too all about the old woman who was alone in the
little cottage by the lake, and he sat down to tell his tale as the
maiden wished.

Meanwhile the fisherman had reached the brink of the stream, and great
was his surprise to see the knight seated by the side of his lost
child.

'You have found her, you have found my little one!' he cried
reproachfully. 'Why did you not hasten to tell me she was found, Sir
Knight?'

Then Huldbrand was ashamed, though, as he told the old man, it was but
a little while since his search had ceased.

'Bring her without more delay to the mainland!' shouted the fisherman,
when he had listened to the sorry excuse which was all the knight
could offer.

But Undine had no wish to go home. She would rather stay with the
knight in the forest than go back to the cottage, for there, so she
said, no one would do as she wished.

Then, flinging her arms around the knight, she clung to him and
begged him to stay with her in the forest.

The old fisherman wept as he heard her words, yet Undine did not seem
to notice his tears. But the knight could not help seeing the old
man's grief, and he was troubled.

'Undine,' he cried, 'the tears of your foster-father have touched my
heart. We will return to him.'

The blue eyes of the maiden opened wide with surprise, yet she
answered gently, 'Sir Knight, if this is indeed your will, we shall
return to the mainland. There you must make the old man promise to
listen in silence to all that you saw as you journeyed through the
forest.'

'Only come, and you shall do all that you wish!' cried the fisherman,
and he stretched out his arms and nodded his head, to show to the
maiden how glad he was that she should do as she wished. But the
knight shuddered as his eyes fell upon the fisherman. The nodding
head, the white hair reminded him once again of the tall white man of
the forest.

Shaking off his fears he lifted Undine in his arms and bore her across
the stream. Already the storm was wellnigh over and the waters flowed
more quietly. It now seemed to the knight only a few steps from the
grassy plot where he had found the maiden to the green meadows among
which