Yet though he said the words he failed to think the thought, or it
left him in a moment of time, and he thought but of the Bride and her
kindness. Yet that abode with him but a moment, and again he saw
himself and those two women on the highway edge, and Long-coat
lingering on the slope below, kissing his kisses on her hands; and he
was sorry that she desired him over-much, for she was a fair woman
and a friendly. But all that also flowed from him at once, and he
had no thought in him but that he also desired something that he
lacked: and this was a burden to him, and he rose up frowning, and
said to himself, 'Am I become a mere sport of dreams, whether I sleep
or wake? I will go backward--or forward, but will think no more.'

Then he ordered his gear again, and took the path onward and upward
toward the Great Mountains; and the track was even fainter than
before for a while, so that he had to seek his way diligently.



CHAPTER V. FACE-OF-GOD FALLS IN WITH MENFOLK ON THE MOUNTAIN



Now he plodded on steadily, and for a long time the forest changed
but little, and of wild things he saw only a few of those that love
the closest covert. The ground still went up and up, though at
whiles were hollows, and steeper bents out of them again, and the
half-blind path or slot still led past the close thickets and fallen
trees, and he made way without let or hindrance. At last once more
the wood began to thin, and the trees themselves to be smaller and