They saw us, and their hands closed into
fists, and the fists pulled their arms down,
as if they wished their arms to hold them,
while their body swayed. And they could
not speak.

We dared not come too close to them.
We asked, and our voice trembled:

"How did you come to be here, Golden One?"

But they whispered only:

"We have found you. . . ."

"How did you come to be in the forest?"
we asked.

They raised their head, and there was a
great pride in their voice; they answered:

"We have followed you."

Then we could not speak, and they said:

"We heard that you had gone to the
Uncharted Forest, for the whole City is
speaking of it. So on the night of the day
when we heard it, we ran away from the Home
of the Peasants. We found the marks of