oor of the apartment in which he lay was of solid rock, cleanly
washed and swept, but there was no furniture of any kind--only a pile of
fresh-cut pine-branches, with which the place was perfumed, and two or
three rough logs which had been used as seats the night before by the
host and hostess of this--to March--enchanted castle.

March was staring earnestly at one of these logs which lay close to the
ashes of the fire, trying to recall the form that had last occupied it,
when a rustle at the inner passage attracted his attention, and next
moment the vision again stood before him. It was, if possible, more
innocent and young and sweet than on the previous night.

"Good mornin'. You very good sleep, me hope?"

"Ay, that had I, a capital sleep," cried March heartily, holding out his
hand, which the vision grasped unhesitatingly, and shook with manly
vigour.

"Bees you hongray?"

"No, not a bit," said March.

The girl looked sad at this. "You muss heat," she said quickly, at the
same time raking together the embers of the fire, and blowing them up
into a flame, over which she placed a large iron pot. "Dick hims always
heat well an' keep well. Once me was be sick. Dick him say to me,
`Heat.' Me say, `No want heat.' Hims say, `You _muss_ heat.' So me
try; an' sure 'nuff, get well to-morrow."

March laughed at this prompt and effectual remedy for disease, and said,
"Well, I'll try. Perhaps it will cure me, especially if you feed me."

Poor March saw, by the simplicity of his companion's looks, that
gallantry and compliments were alike thrown away on her; so he resolved
to try them no more. Having come to this conclusion, he said--

"I say, Mary, come and sit by me while I talk with you. I want to know
how you came to be in this wild, out-o'-the-way place, and who Dick is,
and what brought him here, an' in short, all about it."

The girl drew her log near as he desired, but said, "What Dick no tell,
me no tell."

"But, surely," urged March in a somewhat testy tone, "you may tell me
_something_ about ye."

Mary shook her head.

"Why not?"

"Dick say, `No tell.'"

"Oh! Dick's an ass!"

Had Mary known the meaning of her companion's rude speech, she might
possibly have surprised him with a decided opinion in regard to himself.
But, never having heard of nor seen such a creature in all her life,
she only looked up with a quiet expression of curiosity, and said--

"What bees an ass?"

"Ha! ha!--h