Elsalill.

There was no one beside them; they talked gaily together and were
very cheerful.

Sir Archie was telling Elsalill that she must go home with him to
Scotland. There he would build her a castle and make her a fine
lady. He told her she should have a hundred serving-maids to wait
upon her, and she should dance at the court of the King.

Elsalill sat silently listening to every word Sir Archie said to
her, and she believed them all. And Sir Archie thought that never
had he met a damsel so easy to beguile as Elsalill.

Suddenly Sir Archie ceased speaking and looked down at his left
hand.

"What is it, Sir Archie? Why do you say no more?" asked Elsalill.

Sir Archie opened and closed his hand convulsively. He turned it
this way and that.

"What is it, Sir Archie?" asked Elsalill. "Does your hand pain you
on a sudden?"

Then Sir Archie turned to Elsalill with a startled face and said:
"Do you see this hair, Elsalill, that is wound about my hand? Do
you see this lock of fair hair?"

When he began to speak the girl saw nothing, but ere he had