Ivra and Eric were to go to the Tree Man's party alone, for Helma was
going far away from the wood to spend the evening with a comrade. It was
to be a very long walk for her, for she put on her heaviest sandals and
pulled the hood of her cloak up over her hair.

She walked with the children as far as Little Pine Hill. It was a low
hill, bare of trees, except for a dwarfed pine on the top. In summer the
slope was slippery with the needles of the little pine, but now it was
several inches deep in snow. It was bright starlight, and far away down
an avenue of trees, Eric saw shining open fields, and beyond them the
lights of the town.

There Helma said good-by. Eric looking up at her in the starlight saw
her hair like pale firelight under her dark hood and her eyes so calm
and friendly. He clung to her hand for a minute.

"Have a good time," she told them. Ivra leapt away and Eric after her.
Helma stood watching until their little forms had flickered out of sight
among tree-shadows. Then she sped down the starlit avenue towards the
open fields and the town.




CHAPTER VI

AT THE HEART OF A TREE