id the man; "but _who_ said?"

"Your unruly sprite," she answered, indignant. "He came last night
outside my window, which was wide open for the moon, and shot an arrow
into my breast--a little baby arrow, but it hurt. And when I cried out
for the pain, he climbed up to me and kissed the place, saying that
would make it well. And he swore that you made him promise to come. If
that is true, I will never speak to you again."

"Then of course," said the man, "it is not true. And now what do you
want me to do with this unruly sprite?"

"Get rid of him," said she firmly.

"I will," replied the man, and he bowed over her hand and went away.

He stayed for a long time--nearly a week--and when he came back he
brought several sad verses with him to read. "They are very dull,"
said the lady; "what is the matter with you?" He confessed that he did
not know, and began to talk learnedly about the Greek and Persian
poets, until the lady was consumed with a fever of dullness.

"You are simply impossible!" she cried. "I wonder at myself for having
chosen such a friend!"

"I am sorry indeed," said the man.

"For what?"

"For having disappointed you as a friend, and also for having lost my
dear unruly sprite who kept me from being dull."

"Lost him!" exclaimed the lady. "How?"

"By now," said the man, "he must be quite dead, for I tied him to a
tree in the forest five days ago and left him to starve."

"You are a brute," said the lady, "and a very stupid man. Come, take
me to the tree. At least we can bury the poor sprite, and then we
shall part forever."

So he took her by the hand and guided her through the woods, and they
talked much of the sadness of parting forever.

When they came to the tree, there was the little sprite, with his
wrists and ankles bound, lying upon the moss. His eyes were closed,
and his body was white as a snowdrop. They knelt down, one on each
side of him, and untied the cord. To their surprise his hands felt
warm. "I believe he is not quite dead," said the lady. "Shall we try
to bring him to life?" asked the man. And with that they fell to
chafing his wrists and his palms. Presently he gave each of them a
slight pressure of the fingers.

"Did you feel that?" cried she.

"Indeed I did," the man answered. "It shook me to the core. Would you
like to take him on your lap so that I can chafe his feet?"

The lady nodded and took the soft little body on her knees and held it
close to her, while t