knees. But by ----! I won't be frustrated this time!"

And so Jacquelina was kept more secluded than ever. Secluded from
society, but not from nature. The forest became her haunt. And a chance
traveler passing through it, and meeting her fay-like form, might well
suppose he was deceived with the vision of a wood-nymph.

The effervescent spirits of the elf had to expend themselves in the same
way. As a child she had ever been as remarkable for surprising feats of
agility as for fun, frolic, mischief, and _diablerie_. And every one of
these traits augmented with her growth. Feats of agility became a
passion with her--her airy spirit seemed only to find its full freedom
in rapid motion in daring flights, in difficult achievements, and in
hair-breadth escapes. Everything that she read of in that way, which
could possibly be imitated, was attempted. She had her bows and arrows,
and by original fitness, as well as by constant practice, she became an
excellent markswoman. She had her well-trained horse, and her vaulting
bars, and made nothing of flying over a high fence or a wide ditch. But
her last whim was the most eccentric of all. She had her lance. And, her
favorite pastime was to have a small ring suspended from a crossbeam,
and while riding at full speed, with her light lance balanced in her
hand, to catch this ring and bear it off upon the point of that lance.
In feats of agility alone she excelled, not in those of strength--that
airy, fragile form was well fitted for swiftness and sureness of action,
yet not for muscular force. Her uncle and Grim indulged her in all these
frolics--her uncle in great delight; Grim, under the protest that they
were unworthy of an immortal being with eternity to prepare for.

In these five past years, Cloudesley had been at sea, and had only
returned home once--namely, at the end of the stated three years. He had