e
beginning to feel a reaction, and she was glad of his protection.

So he walked humbly by her side, saying little for fear of saying too
much, till they came within sight of the Pavilion and then she
dismissed him. "We will say good-bye here," she said; "and you mustn't
keep at a distance any more--it would be too absurd, now--you must come
and speak to me, of course. Though I _may_ be sent back to England at a
moment's notice, and then you won't see me again. But if you don't, I
shall never forget how bravely you risked your life for me."

She gave him her hand; he held its cool silken softness for a moment and
would have raised it to his lips but for this new humility of his. Then,
with a friendly but almost careless little nod, she was gone, leaving
him with the conviction that it was indifferent to her whether they ever
met again or not.

He felt that the Fates had not been as propitious as they might. They
had permitted him to rescue her--but then he had been rescued by her
immediately afterwards--a most humiliating anti-climax! There was one
service he could still do her, he thought, and, cutting himself a stout
stick, he made a thorough search of the groves, where however, rather to
his disappointment, he discovered no serpents of any kind. But, in his
anxiety for Daphne, he insisted on seeing the Court Godmother at once
and warning her of the dangers to which she was exposing her _protegee_.

The old Fairy was secretly disconcerted, though she did not of course
admit that there had been any neglect on her part. "I am not at all
surprised, Mirliflor. In fact, I fully expected something of this sort
to happen," she said unblushingly. "But I knew very well that there was
no danger while you were there to look after her."

"But it may happen again," he urged. "That accursed Xuriel may create
another serpent, and the next time I mayn't be at hand--unless you can
get me excused altogether from working in the gardens."

"I shall not do that, Mirliflor," said the inflexible old Fairy. "And
what you fear will not happen again. To begin with, that serpent was
never created by Xuriel."

"But I heard it say that he had called it into being!"

"And have you ever known a serpent tell the truth? No, no, Mirliflor,
Master Xuriel is clever enough in his way, but he couldn't make a
serpent of that size. From what you tell me, it was evidently a Crested
Serpent which he had got hold of and trained, and I happen to know i