small swollen stream that rushed through the woods. I had a
vague hope that if I crossed this stream, I should be in safety
from my pursuer; but I soon found that my hope was as false as it
was vague. I dashed across the stream, ascended a rising ground,
and reached a more open space, where stood only great trees.
Through them I directed my way, holding eastward as nearly as I
could guess, but not at all certain that I was not moving in an
opposite direction. My mind was just reviving a little from its
extreme terror, when, suddenly, a flash of lightning, or rather a
cataract of successive flashes, behind me, seemed to throw on the
ground in front of me, but far more faintly than before, from the
extent of the source of the light, the shadow of the same
horrible hand. I sprang forward, stung to yet wilder speed; but
had not run many steps before my foot slipped, and, vainly
attempting to recover myself, I fell at the foot of one of the
large trees. Half-stunned, I yet raised myself, and almost
involuntarily looked back. All I saw was the hand within three
feet of my face. But, at the same moment, I felt two large soft
arms thrown round me from behind; and a voice like a woman's
said: "Do not fear the goblin; he dares not hurt you now." With
that, the hand was suddenly withdrawn as from a fire, and
disappeared in the darkness and the rain. Overcome with the
mingling of terror and joy, I lay for some time almost
insensible. The first thing I remember is the sound of a voice
above me, full and low, and strangely reminding me of the sound
of a gentle wind amidst the leaves of a great tree. It murmured
over and over again: "I may love him, I may love him; for he is
a man, and I am only a beech-tree." I found I was seated on the
ground, leaning against a human form, and supported still by the
arms around me, which I knew to be those of a woman who must be