f depart sooner or later.
Then, throwing her arms round Huldbrand, she sang with indescribable
grace:--

"A stream ran out of the misty vale
Its fortunes to obtain,
the ocean's depths it found a home
And ne'er returned again."

The old fisherman wept bitterly at her song, but this did not seem
to affect her particularly. She kissed and caressed her new friend,
who at last said to her: "Undine, if the old man's distress does not
touch your heart, it touches mine--let us go back to him."

She opened her large blue eyes in amazement at him, and spoke at
last, slowly and hesitatingly: "If you think so--well, whatever you
think is right to me. But the old man yonder must first promise me
that he will let you, without objection, relate to me what you saw
in the wood, and--well, other things will settle themselves."

"Come, only come," cried the fisherman to her, unable to utter
another word: and at the same time he stretched out his arms far
over the rushing stream toward her, and nodded his head as if to
promise the fulfilment of her request, and as he did this, his white
hair fell strangely over his face, and reminded Huldbrand of the
nodding white man in the forest. Without allowing himself, however,
to grow confused by such an idea the young knight took the beautiful
girl in his arms, and bore her over the narrow passage which the
stream had forced between her little island and the shore.

The old man fell upon Undine's neck and could not satisfy the
exuberance of his joy; his good wife also came up and caressed the
newly-found in the heartiest manner. Not a word of reproach passed
their lips; nor was it thought of, for Undine, forgetting all her
waywardness, almost overwhelmed her foster-parents with affection
and fond expressions.

When at last they had recovered from the excess of their joy, day
had already dawned, and had shed its purple hue over the lake;
stillness had followed the storm, and the little birds were singing
merrily on the wet branches. As Undine now insisted upon hearing the
knight's promised story, the aged couple smilingly and readily
acceded to her desire. Breakfast was brought out under the trees
which screened the cottage from the lake, and they sat down to it
with contented hearts--Undine on the grass at the knight's feet, the
place chosen by herself.

Huldbrand then proceeded with his story.

CHAPTER IV.

OF THAT WHICH THE KNIGHT ENCOUNTERED IN THE WOOD.

"It is n