the trees of the forest seemed to stretch out their arms and
beckon him near. But the young man steadily turned his face in
the other direction, and went home to bed.

The struggle had been hard, but Alonzo had his reward next day in
the joy and relief with which Julia greeted him. He assured her
that having overcome the temptation once the danger was now over;
but she, knowing better than he did the magic of the Yara's face
and voice, did not fail to make him repeat his promise when he
went away.

For three nights Alonzo kept his word, not because he believed in
the Yara, for he thought that the tales about her were all
nonsense, but because he could not bear the tears with which he
knew that Julia would greet him, if he confessed that he had
returned to the forest. But, in spite of this, the song rang in
his ears, and daily grew louder.

On the fourth night the attraction of the forest grew so strong
that neither the thought of Julia nor the promises he had made
her could hold him back. At eleven o'clock he plunged into the
cool darkness of the trees, and took the path that led straight
to the river. Yet, for the first time, he found that Julia's
warnings, though he had laughed at her at the moment, had
remained in his memory, and he glanced at the bushes with a
certain sense of fear which was quite new to him.

When he reached the river he paused and looked round for a moment
to make sure that the strange feeling of some one watching him
was fancy, and he was really alone. But the moon shone brightly