Page 167 - Adventures in shadow-land

As Aster spoke, Eva looked at him. And she

saw that, on the rich, green velvet of his dress,
only a few tiny spots and stains were left; and

then she began to wonder what would happen
when the moon would again be full, and the

flower they had sought so long should bloom and
be found. Would Aster then return to his home?

and, as for herself, what would become of her?
But she did not wonder long, for the soft music

which attended the disappearance of the moon
thrilled through the forest, and Eva and Aster,

by the side of the spring, lay down and slept.
And, once more, as on the first night that Eva,

holding the tiny form of Aster to her heart, had
slept on the mossy bed where once the golden

fountain had played, the two fair white forms
bent over the sleeping children, and one said :
"T h e punishment is over."

“ Y es," was the other's reply, "L o v e has
overcome Hate, and Aster has been led back,

through its gentle influences, to his true self once
more,”

Yet, even as they spoke, two figures, with the
hateful faces Eva had seen, crept slowly up