ild fire seemed to
die out of his eyes as he held out both hands.

"Ah! once more, my son!" he said, in the tenderest of tones. "Come to
me. This is kind of you, Orley, to return so soon again; I had not
expected you for a long time. Sit down beside me, and lay your head
upon my knee--so--I like to have you that way, for I see you better."

"Oh, father--dear father!" said Orlando, but the words were choked in
his throat, and tears welled from his eyes.

"Yes, Orley?" said Zeppa, with a startled look of joyful surprise, while
he turned his head a little to one side, as if listening in expectancy;
"speak again, dear boy; speak again. I have often seen you since you
went to the spirit-land, but have never heard you speak till to-day.
Speak once more, dear boy!"

But Orley could not speak. He could only hide his face in his father's
bosom and sob aloud.

"Nay, don't cry, lad; you never did that before! What do you mean?
That is unmanly. Not like what my courageous boy was wont to be. And
you have grown so much since last I saw you. Why, you've even got a
beard! Who ever heard of a bearded man sobbing like a child? And now I
look at you closely I see that you have grown wonderfully tall. It is
very strange--but all things seem strange since I came here. Only, in
all the many visits you have paid me, I have never seen you changed till
to-day. You have always come to me in the old boyish form. Very,
_very_ strange! But, Orley, my boy" (and here Zeppa's voice became
intensely earnest and pleading), "you won't leave me again, will you?
Surely they can well spare you from the spirit-world for a time--just a
little while. It would fill my heart with such joy and gratitude. And
I'm your father, Orley, surely I have a right to you--more right than
the angels have--haven't I? and then it would give such joy, if you came
back, to your dear mother, whom I have not seen for so long--so very
long!"

"I will _never_ leave you, father, _never_!" cried Orlando, throwing his
arms round Zeppa's neck and embracing him passionately.

"Nay, then, you _are_ going to leave me," cried Zeppa, with sudden
alarm, as he clasped Orlando to him with an iron grip. "You always
embrace me when you are about to vanish out of my sight. But you shall
not escape me _this_ time. I have got you tighter than I ever had you
before, and no fiend shall separate us now. No fiend!" he repeated in a
shout, glaring at a spot in the bushes wh