But there no more she carols free,
So Berwen's banks are sad to me!"


By and by, at a curve in the road, he again noticed the figure in front
of him, and quickened his steps; but it did the same, and the distance
between them was not lessened, so Cardo gave it up, and continued his
song. When the strain came to a natural ending, he looked again with
some interest at the grey figure ever moving on, and still seeming to
keep at the same distance from him. Once more he quickened his steps,
and again the figure did likewise. "Diwss anwl!" he said. "I am not
going to run after an old woman who evidently does not want my
company." And he tramped steadily on under the fast darkening sky.
For quite three miles he had followed the vanishing form, and as he
reached the top of the moor, he began to feel irritated by the
persistent manner in which his fellow-traveller refused to shorten the
distance between them. It roused within him the spirit of resistance,
and he could be very dogged sometimes in spite of his easy manner.
Having once determined, therefore, to come up with the mysterious
pedestrian, he rapidly covered the ground with his long strides, and
soon found himself abreast of a slim girl, who, after looking shyly
aside at him, continued her walk at the same steady pace. The twilight
had darkened much since he had left the town, but the moonlight showed
him the graceful pose of the head, the light, springy tread, and the
mass of golden hair which escaped from the red hood covering her head.
Cardo took off his cap.

"Good-night to you," he said. "I hope I have not frightened you by so
persistently trying to catch you."