side rose the icy
summits of impassable mountains; on the other side there extended
the blue expanse of the boundless sea. The spot where I lay was
over-shadowed by the dense foliage of a tree which was unlike anything
that I had ever seen, and seemed like some exaggerated grass; at our
feet a brook ran murmuring to the shore; in the air and all around
were innumerable birds.

The situation in which I found myself seemed inexpressibly sweet, and
all the more so from the gentle face of Almah. Would it not be well,
I thought, to remain here? Why should Almah go back to her repulsive
duties? Why should we return to those children of blood, who loved
death and darkness? Here we might pass our days together unmolested.
The genial climate would afford us warmth; we needed no shelter except
the trees, and as for food, there were the birds of the air in
innumerable flocks.

I proposed this to her; she smiled sadly. "You forget," said she,
"this season of light will not last much longer. In a few more joms
the dark season will begin, and then we should perish in a place like
this."

"Are there no caverns here?"

"Oh no. This country has no inhabitants. It is full of fierce wild
beasts. We should be destroyed before one jom."

"But must we go back?" said I. "You have a country. Where is it? See,
here are these birds. They are swift. They can carry us anywhere.
Come, let us fly, and you can return to your own country."

Almah shook her head. "These birds," said she, "cannot go over the
sea, or through these endless forests. My country can only be reached
by sea."

"Can we not hurry back, seize a boat, and go? I know how to sail over
the water without oars."

"We certainly might leave the country; but there is another
difficulty. The dark season is coming, and we should never be able
to find our way. Besides, the sea is full of monsters, and you and
I would perish."

"At any rate, let us try. I have my sepet-ram."

"We could never find our way."

"Only tell me," said I, "where it lies, and I will go by the stars."

"The trouble is," said she, "that even if we did succeed in reaching
my land, I should be sent back again; for I was sent here as a sacred
hostage, and I have been here four seasons."

But in the midst of this conversation a sound arrested our
attention--heavy, puffing, snorting sound, as of some living thing.
Hastily I started up, rifle in hand, and looked; and as I looked I
felt my nerves thrill with