clad in a suit of dry clothes which belonged to his host, the priest
returned to the kitchen.

The old woman pulled forward her own armchair and made the priest sit
in it, while Undine brought a little stool and put it beneath the feet
of the stranger.

Meanwhile food was placed before the priest. When he had eaten he was
refreshed and able to tell his host how he had reached the island.

'It was but yesterday,' he said, 'that I was sailing across the lake,
when a sudden storm arose. A wave dashed upon my boat, overturning it
and throwing me on to the shore. I lay there stunned for some time.
Then, as I slowly recovered my senses, I saw a footpath before me, and
following it I reached the shelter of your cottage.'

Then the fisherman said to the priest, 'Unless the stream subsides we
shall, I fear, be in need of food. For days I have found it wellnigh
impossible to fish in the lake, and even should I be able to do so I
could not sell my fish. It would be too hard a task to reach the city
beyond the wood until the stream once more runs quietly between its
banks.'

To Huldbrand as he listened it mattered not though the stream rushed
on for ever. The world beyond the wood was becoming to the knight more
and more as a dream. Also the little island on which he was living
seemed to him the most beautiful spot on earth, for on it dwelt the
maiden he loved so well.

As these thoughts passed through the knight's mind he turned, and saw