bent to kiss them. In her shining eyes there
was a strange, sweet, deep smile. She leaned over him, and he felt the
warmth of her breath on his forehead as she whispered: "Richard,
couldn't you even ask me for the _humoreske_?"

HALF-TOLD TALES

AN OLD GAME

THE UNRULY SPRITE

A CHANGE OF AIR

AN OLD GAME

[Illustration]

Three men were taking a walk together, as they said, just to while
away the time.

The first man intended to go Somewhere, to look at a piece of property
which he was considering. The second man was ready to go Anywhere,
since he expected to be happy by the way. The third man thought he was
going Nowhere, because he was a philosopher and held that time and
space are only mental forms.

Therefore the third man walked in silence, reflecting upon the vanity
of whiling away an hour which did not exist, and upon the futility of
going when staying was the same thing. But the other men, being more
simple, were playing the oldest game in the world and giving names to
the things that they saw as they travelled.

"Mutton," said the Somewhere Man, as he looked over a stone wall.

"A flock of sheep," said the Anywhere Man, gazing upon the pasture,
where the fleecy ewes were nipping grass between the rocks and the
eager lambs nuzzled their mothers.

But the Nowhere Man meditated on the foolish habit of eating, and said
nothing.

"An ant-hill," said the Anywhere Man, looking at a mound beside the
path; "see how busy the citizens are!"

"Pismires," said the Somewhere Man, kicking the mound; "they sting
like the devil."

But the Nowhere Man, being certain that the devil is a myth, said
nothing.

"Briars," said the Somewhere Man, as they passed through a coppice.

"Blackberries," said the Anywhere Man; "they will blossom next month
and ripen in August."

But the Nowhere Man, to whom they referred the settlement of the
first round of the game, decided that both had lost because they spoke
only of accidental phenomena.

With the next round they came into a little forest on a sandy hill.
The oak-trees were still bare, and the fir-trees were rusty green, and
the maple-trees were in rosy bud. On these things the travellers were
agreed.

But among the withered foliage on the ground a vine trailed far and
wide with verdant leaves, thick and heavy, and under the leaves were
clusters of rosy stars, breathing a wonderful sweetness, so that the
travellers could not but smell it.

"