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Page 5
"Sometimes," he replied, "when they are very young--'children,' the
mortals call them--I have stopped to rescue them from misery. The men
and women I dare not interfere with; they must bear the burdens Nature
has imposed upon them. But the helpless infants, the innocent
children of men, have a right to be happy until they become full-grown
and able to bear the trials of humanity. So I feel I am justified in
assisting them. Not long ago--a year, maybe--I found four poor
children huddled in a wooden hut, slowly freezing to death. Their
parents had gone to a neighboring village for food, and had left a
fire to warm their little ones while they were absent. But a storm
arose and drifted the snow in their path, so they were long on the
road. Meantime the fire went out and the frost crept into the bones
of the waiting children."
"Poor things!" murmured the Queen softly. "What did you do?"
"I called Nelko, bidding him fetch wood from my forests and breathe
upon it until the fire blazed again and warmed the little room where
the children lay. Then they ceased shivering and fell asleep until
their parents came."
"I am glad you did thus," said the good Queen, beaming upon the
Master; and Necile, who had eagerly listened to every word, echoed in
a whisper: "I, too, am glad!"
"And this very night," continued Ak, "as I came to the edge of Burzee I
heard a feeble cry, which I judged came from a human infant. I looked
about me and found, close to the forest, a helpless babe, lying quite
naked upon the grasses and wailing piteously. Not far away, screened
by the forest, crouched Shiegra, the lioness, intent upon devouring
the infant for her evening meal."
"And what did you do, Ak?" asked the Queen, breathlessly.
"Not much, being in a hurry to greet my nymphs. But I commanded
Shiegra to lie close to the babe, and to give it her milk to quiet its
hunger. And I told her to send word throughout the forest, to all
beasts and reptiles, that the child should not be harmed."
"I am glad you did thus," said the good Queen again, in a tone of
relief; but this time Necile did not echo her words, for the nymph,
filled with a strange resolve, had suddenly stolen away from the group.
Swiftly her lithe form darted through the forest paths until she
reached the edge of mighty Burzee, when she paused to gaze curiously
about her. Never until now had she ventured so far, for the Law of
the Forest had placed the nymphs in its inmost depths.
Necile knew she was breaking the Law, but the thought did not give
pause to her dainty feet. She had decided to see with her own eyes
this infant Ak had told of, for she had never yet beheld a child of
man. All the immortals are full-grown; there are no children among
them. Peering through the trees Necile saw the child lying on the
grass. But now it was sweetly sleeping, having been comforted by the
milk drawn from Shiegra. It was not old enough to know what peril
means; if it did not feel hunger it was content.
Softly the nymph stole to the side of the babe and knelt upon the
sward, her long robe of rose leaf color spreading about her like a
gossamer cloud. Her lovely countenance expressed curiosity and
surprise, but, most of all, a tender, womanly pity. The babe was
newborn, chubby and pink. It was entirely helpless. While the nymph
gazed the infant opened its eyes, smiled upon her, and stretched out
two dimpled arms. In another instant Necile had caught it to her
breast and was hurrying with it through the forest paths.
3. The Adoption
The Master Woodsman suddenly rose, with knitted brows. "There is a
strange presence in the Forest," he declared. Then the Queen and her
nymphs turned and saw standing before them Necile, with the sleeping
infant clasped tightly in her arms and a defiant look in her deep
blue eyes.
And thus for a moment they remained, the nymphs filled with surprise
and consternation, but the brow of the Master Woodsman gradually
clearing as he gazed intently upon the beautiful immortal who had
wilfully broken the Law. Then the great Ak, to the wonder of all,
laid his hand softly on Necile's flowing locks and kissed her on her
fair forehead.
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