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Discovering Diverse Content Through
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once again the way would grow easy to her feet, and the water
would resume its former tranquillity.
On, on she went, still following the course of the brook. But at last
a new sound mingled, though but faintly, with its musical ripple,—
the distant voice of falling waters. And when first this new tone
reached Eva’s ears, a few signs of life began to show themselves,—a
sad-colored moth flitted lazily across the path into the forest,—a
slow-crawling worm or hairy caterpillar hid itself under a stone as
Eva passed,—the bright eyes of a mouse would peep out at her from
under the shelter of a leaf, or else a toad would leap hastily from the
path into the waters of the brook.
Still Eva walked onward, more eagerly than ever, for though the
“Follow, follow me!” of the brook was now silent, she heard the voice
of the other waters, and at every turn in the path she looked forward
eagerly for the little joyous cascade she expected to see. For it she
looked, yet in vain: though the sound of the waters grew louder, she
saw nothing, till at last a sudden gleam of golden light, from a long
opening in the forest, fell across the now placid waters of the brook;
and Eva looked up to see, far away in this opening, a fountain
playing in clouds of golden spray, amid which danced sparkles of
light; and the path, parting abruptly from the brook which it had
followed so long, led down the opening in the forest directly to this
play of waters, whose voice Eva had heard and followed.
And as she turned away from the little brook, whose course and
her own had so long been the same, it seemed to her that even the
silvery ripple of its waters died away into silence; and, looking back
once more, after she had taken a few steps, upon the way by which
she had come, lo! the brook and its waters had wholly disappeared,
and an impenetrable forest had already closed up the path behind
her.
 CHAPTER III.
THE GIFT OF THE FOUNTAIN.

HAVE said that Eva wondered at nothing which came to pass

in this land through which she was wandering; nothing
surprised her, but the most singular occurrences appeared natural;
and so it did not seem at all strange to her that the path and the
brook should be swallowed up, as it were, by the dark, hungry,
impenetrable forest; and it was almost with a feeling of pleasure at
the change that after the one hurried glance she gave to the path by
which she had come, and which was now no longer to be seen, that
she went, still holding the little stick in her hand, up the opening
between the trees to the beautiful fountain.
And as she drew near, the bright waters of the fountain played
higher and higher, and sparkled and glistened in golden beauty; and
rainbows of many colors surrounded it, so that Eva longed to dip her
hands in its joyous flow, while the waters as they fell tinkled merrily
like silvery fairy bells; and she came nearer and nearer, thinking she
had never heard such sweet music as this water made, till she was
within a few feet of the fountain.
But when there she paused. For, out of the earth,—all round and
even under the dropping spray and the falling waters,—sprang
myriads of little rainbow-colored flames, which danced to and fro
among and under the water-drops,—like a circle of tiny, fiery
sentinels, guarding the fountain. And Eva, afraid to cross this circle
of flames, for which she was unprepared, would not have ventured
nearer, but that at this very moment the little stick which she held
turned in her hand, and pointed downward; and then Eva saw that it
pointed to a little path, like that by which she had come, which ran
around the fountain; and the child followed the path; until she had
walked once, twice, thrice, around the playing waters, and yet,
though she looked for it, found no spot where the little flame-
sentinels, like faithful soldiers on duty, would permit her to pass. And
then she would have turned away from the beautiful water,—her
foot, indeed, had left the path,—when she heard a voice, even
sweeter and more silvery than the voice of the brook, coming from
the very midst of the fountain, and saying:

“Eva! Eva! have no fear,

To the fountain’s brink come near.”

And hearing these words, Eva stood still in surprise, yet without
obeying them. But, after a moment’s pause, the voice repeated the
words.
Then, for the first time since her wanderings had begun, Eva
spoke, and her voice sounded strange in her own ears, low though it
was:
“How can I cross the fire?”
A little, low, melodious laugh, like that of a merry child, answered
her; and when Eva looked to see whence it came, she saw that the
little knot upon the end of her cane was a real head, that the lips
were laughing, and that from the queer eyes came two funny little
blue flames; and as Eva looked at it, very much tempted to throw it
away, the head laughed again, and then the lips parted and said:

“Flames, like these, of shadow birth,

May not harm a child of earth.”

Then the voice was silent. But a thousand rainbow-colored

bubbles glowed at once all over the waters of the fountain; and on
each bubble there stood and danced a tiny elf, clad in bright colors;
shapes so light and airy that their frail supports never failed them;
and the tiny flames grew brighter, and then, as Eva still hesitated,
fearing yet to cross them, the lips of the little head spoke once
more:

“’Neath thy step they will expire—

Fear not, Eva; cross the fire.”

Hearing this, Eva stepped forward. As she did so, the little stick
dropped or slipped from her hand, and, rolling into the fountain,
disappeared in its waters; and at every step she took she saw that
the little flames died away, as the voice had said, under her feet; till,
when she reached the fountain’s brink, they were all gone, and no
trace of them was left. As she looked at the waters, they seemed to
become solid, and shape themselves into an image carved as it were
out of pure, shining gold, yet glowing with many colors; and then,
slowly, slowly, with a sound like distant music, the beautiful,
wonderful thing began to sink into the earth; and Eva, her tiny
hands clasped, her fair cheeks flushed, her soft blue eyes sparkling,
stood in silence and looked. And just as the magic fountain, which,
when the child first came up to it, had been so high that its waters
played far above her head, had sunk so low that Eva, had she
wished, might have laid her hand upon its summit, she saw, cradled
as it were, on the very crest of what had been the golden water, a
tiny figure; not like one of the elves which had danced on the
rainbow-bubbles, but like a sleeping child, which Eva thought, at
first, was only a doll lying there, in its green-and-scarlet velvet dress;
and for a moment the slow, descending motion of the fountain
stopped, and Eva heard these words, in the same voice which had
spoken before through the lips of the little head, though this time it
came from the fountain:

“Take it, Eva, ’tis thy fate,

See, for thee the waters wait.”

Obedient to the voice, the child stretched forth her hand, and as
her slight fingers closed upon the little, motionless form, a bright
and dazzling crimson light seemed to flash everywhere, and the
water, losing its solidity, began once more to gleam and sparkle, and
to sink again into the earth; and in another moment it was gone,
and in the place where the fountain had played there was now a bed
of soft, green moss, through and around which was twined a vine,
whose leaves were mingled with clusters of bright scarlet berries.
Then for the first time she missed her little stick; and she looked for
it, but it was nowhere to be found.
And then the sky grew dark, as the glorious crimson light slowly
faded away, and one by one stars peeped out from the sky; and Eva,
still clasping the little figure which had come so strangely to her, to
her heart, lay down quietly upon the soft, green moss, which
seemed to have sprung up there expressly as a bed for her, and
before many minutes had passed she was asleep.
But while she slept, there hovered over her two fair white forms,
who looked at her and smiled, and then one of them whispered to
the other, in the silvery voice of the brook:
“The worst is over.”
“No,” the other replied. “Although the boy is safe, for a time, in the
hands of his protector, his punishment is not yet over. Love must
teach him obedience,—that alone can appease and work out the will
of Fate.”
“And we can do no more for him!”
“We can only wait, and hope.”
A moment later, and the two bright forms were gone. And,
watched by the twinkling stars, lulled by the low murmur of the
gentle breeze playing among the trees of the great forest, the fair
child slept, holding clasped to her innocent breast the helpless figure
which had come to her as the gift of the fountain.
 CHAPTER IV.

THE FIRST MOONRISE.

UT sleep does not last forever, and after a time Eva awoke.
And when she first sat up, and looked around her, she could
not understand, for a moment, how it could be that
everything was so changed; why the brook should be gone, and its
voice silenced; the path no more to be seen; and how she should be
sitting on this soft bed of velvety-green moss, with the little figure
lying in her lap. Then, all at once, she remembered all that had
happened the day before,—and as she thought it over, like a
pleasant, yet indistinct dream, she recalled the two fair forms which
had hovered over her sleep,—faintly conscious of their presence,
though unaware of the words which they had spoken. Whether they
were real, or only a dream, Eva did not know; she only recalled them
mistily; for, in this strange, silent land, through which she was
wandering, she never knew what was real or what unreal,—it was all
alike to her.
And as nothing that happened astonished her, so never for one
moment did her thoughts go back to the father and mother she had
left, or to the little baby-brother cooing in his cradle. It was as
though they never had existed, so completely were they forgotten.
The Present, such as it was, had effaced all memory of that Past.
Sitting on her soft, mossy bed, still holding in her little hands the
motionless little figure which the fountain had left her, and which,
Eva knew,—though how she knew it she could not tell,—was
something to be cared for and guarded, as being more helpless than
herself. Eva thought over all the adventures of the day before, and
while she wondered what would come next, she wished she could
once more hear the pleasant murmur of the brook which had guided
her, for what purpose she knew not, to this spot.
Only a few moments had passed since the child awoke, when a
low, musical chime rang through the forest. It died away and then
returned; and then came again and again, in tones so marvellously
sweet that Eva, who had just taken the little figure into her hands,
dropped him into her lap, and pushed her long golden curls away
from her face, the better to listen to the melody.
Once more it came, and once more died away into silence. And
then there was a low, rushing sound, and, far in the distance, Eva
saw arise, as it were from out of the earth, among the trees, the tiny
silver crescent of a young new moon,—and as she looked at it, it
rose higher and higher, and faster and faster, till it reached, in a few
minutes, the very centre of the sky, the child’s blue eyes still
following it; and when once there it paused, and floated among the
strange, gleaming clouds, which surrounded it, like a little shining
boat.
With a sudden impulse Eva bent down and kissed the little figure
lying in her lap; and then she looked up at the crescent of the moon,
as upon the face of an old friend; and she would have sat there
longer watching it, but that all at once a little, weak voice said:
“I am awake again, and there is my home.”
 “—taking off the plumed hat which he wore, he made
her a very low bow.” Page 33.

Then there came a hurried exclamation of surprise, and Eva

looked down from the moon’s crescent to see that the little figure
which she had taken from the crest of the fountain had suddenly, as
it were, been gifted by her kiss, with life, motion, and speech, and
that he was now standing in her lap, evidently as much astonished
at seeing her as she was at the change which had come over him.
But their mutual surprise did not last; for the little mannikin began
to laugh as Eva’s blue eyes grew larger and rounder, and when at
last she asked, “Who are you?” he put his head to one side, in the
most comical manner, and, taking off the plumed cap which he wore,
he made her a very low bow.
“I know now who you are,” he said. “You are Eva, and you will
have to take care of me,—that is all you were sent here for.”
Eva laughed. “Suppose I should not want to take care of such a
little thing as you are?”
“You will not have any choice in the matter,—you cannot help
yourself.”
“Why?”
“Because THEY have said it.”
“I may not choose to do it.”
“What is the use of talking,” the boy went on, “when you know
that you will?”
And such were the answers that he persisted in giving to all her
inquiries.
“You said you knew who I was,” Eva went on; “but how did you
know it?”
“They told me.”
“Who are THEY?”
“They led you here to me, and for me. You must not ask so many
questions.”
“May I not even ask your name?”
“You ought to know that without my telling you. But, as you don’t,
I will answer you. It is Aster.”
“Aster? Aster?” Eva slowly repeated; “it seems to me that I have
heard that name before.”
“You never did,” was the somewhat sullen answer; “for no one but
myself has any right to it.”
“Yet I am very sure that I have heard it before, at——”
“Hush! hush! You must never say that here,” said the miniature
boy, climbing up on Eva’s shoulder, and laying his hand upon her
lips. “You know as well as I do that you never heard my name
before.”
 “I thought I had,” Eva said, looking lovingly at the little figure
nestling among her golden curls; “but I now know that I never did.
Still, I would like to know who you are. Are you a fairy?”
“I am not a fairy, but you are all mine,” Aster said, gayly. “But you
must be careful with me, and never lose me, or else——”
“What?”
“I do not know. They are watching us.”
Who “THEY” were, Eva could not induce him to say. For even when
he did try to explain, his words were all so confused that Eva could
not understand at all what he meant, although he seemed to speak
plainly; and the only thing that she could really learn from him was
this,—that she must not ask questions, and that THEY were THEY.
Which is all very strange to us; but it appears that Eva was at last
satisfied, because Aster seemed to think that she should understand
it just as he did, and that nothing further need, consequently, be
said on the subject.
 CHAPTER V.

WHAT ASTER WAS.

OR several days the two, Eva and Aster, wandered through

the forest with no object in view, and returned every evening
to rest upon the soft, mossy bed which now covered the
place where the golden fountain had once played. The scarlet berries
of the vine surrounding it gave them food. The young moon, floating
in the sky, gave them light; for while she shone, it was their day;
when, suddenly as she arose, she would drop from the centre of the
sky, then came their night; and the hours of her absence were spent
in sleep.
So, at stated intervals, the moon sprang suddenly from the earth,
shone there, replacing the faint earth-light which, during her
absence, had guided Eva, and which still shone when she was not to
be seen; then, after her hours were over, she as suddenly
descended; and her rising and her setting were alike accompanied
by the same weird music which had heralded her first coming,
though its notes were fainter than those which had hailed the rising
of the young new moon.
But every time that the moon returned it seemed to Eva that she
grew brighter and larger, and that she shed more light upon the
earth. And as the light grew brighter, pale white flowers began here
and there to bloom, flowers which drooped and closed their petals
as soon as the moon fell from the sky; flowers which, as Eva
thought, murmured a low song as she passed them, yet a song
whose words she never could distinguish. And at last she noticed
that, as the silver crescent of the moon broadened, the slight form
of Aster seemed to grow and to expand; so that he was no longer
the tiny doll-like figure which she had taken from the fountain’s
crest, but more like a boy of four years old.
Yet this change, although it was singular, was only a source of
pleasure to the child. It gave her a companion, not merely a
plaything, for until now she had looked upon Aster in that light,—
something which, though it could talk, walk, sleep, and eat, was only
a new toy, to be taken care of and prized as such. She never had
looked upon Aster otherwise.
At last, when the moon had reached her first quarter, and the two,
enjoying her pure light, sat on their mossy bed, Eva asked the boy
the same question she had asked him the day her first kiss had
awakened him:
“Tell me who you are.”
“I am Aster.”
“I know that,” Eva said, laying her hand on the boy’s shoulder;
“but that is only your name.”
“I shall be as large as you are, soon,” Aster said, raising his star-
like eyes to the moon as he spoke. “When she is round, I shall be as
tall as you are, Eva.”
Eva laughed. “How do you know?”
“It will be; because it must be.”
“You are Aster,” Eva said, slowly, “and I know how you came to
me; but why did you come?”
“You will know then.”
“When?”
“When the moon is round.”
“Why not now?”
“They will not let you.”
And with this answer Eva was forced to be content. But every day
they would stand side by side, and every day Aster grew taller and
taller; and every day the moon grew broader and brighter.
 At last she rose, a round, perfect orb, to her station in the sky;
and as Eva, awakened by the loud music which told of her coming,
sat up to see and wonder at the bright light she cast, Aster came
quietly behind her, and, laying his hands on her shoulders, said:
“Look at me, Eva. The day has come, and I am as tall as you are.”
Eva sprang to her feet. As she did so, Aster put his arm around
her, and she saw that there was now no difference in their height,—
they were exactly the same size. And, strange to say, his clothes had
grown with him, and their rich, soft velvet fitted him now as
perfectly as it had done when Eva first took him, small and helpless,
from the crest of the golden fountain.
“I can tell you now who I am,” the beautiful boy said, “for to-day
THEY cannot silence me; this one day when I can be my own self
again. You ought to know, Eva, without my telling you, and you
would know, if you were like me; but you are not as I am.”
“Why not?” Eva asked, in surprise.
“Because you are only a little earth-maiden.”
Eva laughed, “What is that?” She had wholly, as we know,
forgotten the past.
“I cannot tell you,” Aster said, slowly. “I only know what THEY have
told me about you.”
“And that?”
“I do not know. But you are not like me, Eva. We are very
different. Look at your dress, and then at mine.”
In truth, every here and there upon the rich velvet of Aster’s dress
were soils and stains, while not a spot discolored the pure white Eva
wore.
“Now do you see?” Aster asked. “You know that we are in
Shadow-Land, and it can only affect things which are like itself; it
cannot harm you or deceive you.”
“Do you belong here?”
“No,” Aster said, “I came from there,” pointing to the round full
moon above their heads. “I wish I was there again.”
“Why don’t you go back, then?”
 “I can’t, unless you help me. They who sent me here say so.”
“Why did they send you here?”
“Because up there,” pointing to the moon, “I lost my flower, and
everything which is lost there falls into Shadow-Land, as everything
which is lost in Fairy-Land falls into the Enchanted River; and so they
sent me here to find it again, because a prince cannot live there
without his flower; and I cannot find it unless you help me. Now you
know who I am, Eva,—the moon-prince, Aster.”
“Then must I say Prince Aster?”
“No; to you I am only Aster. And I know that it will be hard for you
to find the flower, for I cannot help you, or tell you what it is like. I
know that the Green Frog has hidden it, and you are the only person
who can help me to find it, and then you must give it to me. They
say we shall have trouble.”
“But we will find it at last?”
“When my punishment for losing it is over. To-morrow we must
leave this place, for after this moon the moss will be gone.”
“You know where to go, then?”
“No; I can only follow you. I have no power here; you will have to
take care of me.”
And then Aster began to sing, and this was the song which he
sung:

Till my flower bloom again,

We may seek, yet seek in vain.
Till ’tis plucked by Eva’s hand,
We must roam through Shadow-Land.

Only this does Aster know,

Through hard trials he must go;
Eva’s hand must guide him on
Till his flower again be won.

She must wander far and near,

Led by songs he may not hear;
 Should she lose me from her hand,
Worse my fate in Shadow-Land.

Then Aster threw himself down on the soft moss at Eva’s feet. But
when she asked him where he had learned the words of his song, he
could not tell her. Just then a cloud came over the face of the moon,
hiding her from their sight; and as the darkness came over
everything, only leaving for a moment the pale earth-light, it seemed
to Eva that there were faces looking at her, peeping from behind
every tree; and then a light breeze sprang up, just moving the
flowers, and from the bell of one of them seemed to come these
words, all in verse, for in Fairy-Land and in Shadow-Land people
seldom speak in plain prose as we do:

O’er this spot do THEY have power,

Not here groweth Aster’s flower.
Wander, Eva, wander on
Till thy hand the prize hath won.

Then the breeze died away, and the voice was silent; and Eva saw
that Aster was asleep, and, frightened at the faces which made
grimaces and mocked at her, more angrily, she thought, on account
of the warning the flower had sung, she touched him to awaken
him; and as she did so the cloud passed from the face of the moon,
and as once more her pure, clear light returned, the ugly,
threatening faces vanished, and Aster awoke. But when Eva tried to
tell him of what she had seen and heard during his short sleep, she
could only say these words:

Moss shall harden into stone,

Faces mock you o’er the sand;
Leading Aster by the hand,
From this spot ye must be gone.

Then Aster laughed, because Eva declared that these were not the
words which the flower had spoken; yet every time that she tried to
recollect and repeat them, she could only say the same thing over.
Then she began to try and tell him about the faces, and when she
began to speak of them, suddenly the full moon sank from the sky,
and all was dark; and then a strange drowsiness came over the
children, and Eva and Aster, nestled in each other’s arms, lay down
to sleep upon the soft, green moss, knowing that with the next
moonrise they must go forth in search of Aster’s lost flower.
 Chapter VI.
THE BEGINNING OF THE SEARCH.

HEN the two children, after their sleep, awoke to see the
moon rise to her station in the sky, they were not surprised
to find that her fair, round proportions were already
changed. But when Eva turned to Aster, she saw that he, too, was
smaller than when they had lain down to rest; and she knew at
once, almost as if she had been told, that the Moon-Prince would in
future wax and wane as did the orb from which he had been
banished; that this was part of his punishment; and now she
understood why it was that Aster had said she would have to take
care of him. But as she stood, thinking of this, Aster suddenly
touched her hand, and directly over the mossy bed on which they
had slept, and which had never been crushed by their weight, but
was always fresh, Eva saw again the mocking faces which had
disturbed her the night before; but only for a moment, and then
they were gone. And even as she looked, she saw that the soft
green moss began to shrivel, dry up, and crumble away, as though
in a fire; and a moment later it was all gone, and in its place was a
heap of rough sand and stone, instead of the velvety moss and the
vine with its scarlet berries.
“The faces have done it,” Eva said, clasping Aster’s hand tightly, as
she watched the rapid change.
 “The faces!” Aster said, scornfully. “Eva, you are dreaming; there
were no faces there.”
“I saw them,” Eva began; but Aster interrupted her.
“I tell you, Eva, you saw no faces, there was nothing there. I told
you that the moss would be gone the next time that the moon rose;
and you see I told you the truth. We must leave this place.”
“Where shall we go?”
“I don’t know. We cannot stay here. What did the flower say to
you, Eva?

When soft moss shall change to stone,

From this spot ye must be gone.”

Even as Aster spoke, Eva saw a faint little path at her feet, like
that which she had first followed. Looking back, wishing it might lead
her again to the pleasant little brook, and that she might return to it,
instead of going on into the forest, she saw that the sand and stone
had grown into a huge wall, or rather a mound, over which she
never could have climbed, and which would prevent her return. As if
Aster had read her thoughts, he said to her,—
“There is no going back, Eva; we can only go forward.”
Aster’s words were true. The wall of stone, which a few moments
had been enough to build up behind them, seemed to come closer
and closer, as though to shut them out from the place where they
had been; and, clasping Aster’s hand tightly, Eva and the boy walked
slowly on, in the little path which lay before them.
For days the two went on, walking while the moon shone, and
sleeping when her light was hid. At each moonrise they were
awakened by the strains of music, which, as the moon waned, grew
sadder and more mournful; while that accompanying her setting
became at last a low, sad moaning, and each day she grew smaller,
and, in sympathy with her, Aster seemed to dwindle and wane, and
he became more and more helpless, till at last, when the moon was
reduced to a thin crescent, the little prince was once more as small
as he was when Eva first received him.
 Yet, through all these changes, the two went slowly on through
the dark forest, which opened on either side of the path to let them
pass, and closed again behind them. Were they thirsty, they were
sure to find some tiny spring, issuing as at a wish from the earth;
were they hungry, some wild fruit or berry was always to be found.
But not once did Eva leave the path. What it was that kept her in it,
she could not tell,—except that every time she felt the slightest
desire to go into the forest; she saw the same hateful faces which
had peeped at her for the first time when the cloud had passed over
the face of the full moon, and which had mocked at her from above
the soft mossy bed when it had been turned into the stony wall
which had forced them to go forward, and she thought they forbade
her to go near them. But Aster, in spite of all her efforts to detain
him in the path, would sometimes run away from her, saying he saw
some beautiful flower which he must gather, or else some sweet
child-face which smiled upon him; but each time that he did this, he
was sure to hasten back to Eva, saying that either thorns had
pierced or else nettles stung him; and then he would hide his face in
the folds of Eva’s white dress, trembling, and saying that THEY were
there, and had frightened him.
Still, Eva could never find out from the boy who THEY were. For
Aster, though he sometimes tried, could not tell her; it seemed as if
he was not allowed to speak, and the child began to think that the
faces which haunted her, and THEY of whom Aster so often spoke,
were only different manifestations of the same power, which seemed
to follow them wherever they went, seeking an opportunity to hurt
them, although as yet no harm had been done.
Once, before Aster grew so small, Eva asked him why it was that
they were thus followed.
“It is not you that THEY are following; THEY would do me harm if I
were to fall into their hands; but I am safe while you keep me. You
are beyond their reach.”
But, though Aster knew this, it seemed to Eva that he dared, and
tried, to put himself in the power of THEY, whom he seemed to dread,
—for it was only when the faces looked at her from behind tree or
shrub that Aster desired to leave her, and only then that he spoke of
THEY who always frightened him back to her side. He never alluded to
the flower they sought; only once, when Eva asked him what it was
like, he said to her:
“I cannot describe it to you; you will know it when you see it.”
“How shall I know it?” Eva asked.
“You will know it when the time comes.”
But, though Eva looked carefully for the flower, she never saw it.
There were flowers enough along the path, but the right one was
not to be seen. She did not know—how could she?—that the search
was only begun, and that not till after long wanderings and many
troubles to Aster would she be able to find for him the flower which
he had lost, and without which he could never regain his home.
 CHAPTER VII.
ASTER’S MISFORTUNES.

T last, even the thin crescent of the moon disappeared, and

once more Aster lay motionless, and, as it were, without life,
the same tiny, helpless thing which Eva had taken from the crest of
the fountain. Once more she wandered, alone,—for what
companionship could she find in the senseless little figure which she
carried about with her?—through the strange, dream-like country in
which she now found herself. But, wherever she went, a feeling she
could not explain nor understand made her hold the helpless little
prince close, never for a moment letting him pass from her loving
clasp.
 “As day by day the path led them on into the forest, the
trees altered their shape.” Page 53.

Once more, too, the faint earth-light shone, instead of the

vanished moon. And Eva thought that while Aster lay helpless, there
were fewer difficulties in her path; the faces no longer appeared to
torment and harass her; the way seemed easier to her feet; more
and brighter flowers bloomed along the path; and the misty,
shadowy shapes which were to be seen at intervals passing among
the close-set trunks of the trees were fair and lovely to look upon.
But this quiet was not to last. Again, after a time, the music rang
triumphantly through the forest; and again, as the young moon
sprang to her station overhead, Aster awoke, to all appearance
unconscious of the time he had slept, and of the distance which Eva
had carried him. As he grew, with the moon, it seemed to her that
he was changed; that he was no longer the gentle, loving boy who
had wandered with her when the first moon shone: something elfish,
imp-like, and changeable had come over him.
Then, too, as day by day the path led them on into the forest,
which seemed endless, the trees altered their shape. Sometimes
they were circled with huge, twining snakes, which Eva thought
seemed coiled there, ready to seize her as she passed, though when
near them they proved to be nothing but huge vines climbing up the
trees. Here and there in the path lay huge stones, which you might
think at first sight were insurmountable, obstructing their further
progress; yet, if either Eva’s foot touched them, or the hem of her
white dress brushed ever so lightly against them, they would always
fade away, like a shadow, into utter nothingness, or else would roll
slowly away to one side, leaving the path clear. But when Aster saw
the stones he would cry, and say that they would crush him if he
passed them, and the only way in which Eva could soothe him was
by taking him up in her arms and carrying him past the stones, while
he hid his face, so as not to see them, in her long, golden curls.
Every now and then, in spite of what he had often told Eva,—that
she, and she only, could find and give him the flower which he had
lost,—Aster would declare to her that he saw it blooming in places
where she saw nothing but nettles or ugly weeds, but which he
would always insist were beds of the most beautiful flowers. These
flowers, he said, called to him to come and gather them; while Eva
thought that warning voices bade her pass them by, and that she
saw over or else among them shadows of the same hateful faces
which she dreaded. But it was useless to try and convince Aster of
this; she soon learned that nothing ever presented the same
appearance to him that it did to her.
In consequence, whenever Aster insisted upon leaving the path,
as he often did, Eva watched him with a kind of terror, and never felt
he was safe unless she led him by the hand. Placed, as he was,
under her care, she felt sure that when with her no danger could
come near him, nothing harm him. Still, if he had enemies in this
great forest, he had friends, too; for once, when he stooped to
gather a flower which bloomed near the path, she heard it say:

“Guard thou well thy charge to-day,

There is danger in the way.”

But Aster laughed joyfully, as he looked up without gathering the

flower, and said:
“Did you hear what the flower told me, Eva? That was the reason
why I did not pick it, for it said that I should have much pleasure to-
day.”
Eva only smiled; she said nothing; she had learned that Aster
would not bear being contradicted. But she quietly resolved to be
more watchful than ever; for, from what she had heard the flower
say, she thought that efforts would be made to take the little prince
from her.
She was wrong, however, for the day passed, the moon
disappeared, and, as nothing had happened to disturb them, she
began to think that perhaps she had been mistaken, and that Aster
had been right regarding the words which the flower had spoken; for
he had, all that day, been cheerful and gentle. But, that night, she
was awakened from her sleep by Aster’s talking, as though to
himself, in a rambling, disconnected manner, of THEY whom he
seemed to fear; and this being the first time for days—not since he
had awakened from the stupor into which the disappearance of the
moon had thrown him—that he had mentioned or even appeared to
think of these nameless yet formidable beings, she guessed, seeing
that Aster’s words were spoken, as it were, in a dream, and
unconsciously to himself, that the coming day contained more
danger to him than any of the preceding ones.
It was, notwithstanding, with a feeling of relief that Eva at last
saw the moon arise, and once more she and Aster set out on their
journey. He never referred to the words which had awakened her. No
strange sights or sounds came to disturb them. There was utter
stillness all around; and as hour after hour passed, and Aster walked
quietly by her side, Eva began to think that her anxiety had all been
for nothing, and she relaxed a little of her watchfulness.
At last they came to a place where every plant along the path was
hung with filmy, gossamer, delicate webs, and in each web sat a
spider. And every spider was different,—no two of them being alike.
And, as they passed these patient spinners, Aster clung closely to
Eva’s hand, saying that he was afraid of being entangled among
their webs, or else stung by them; although to her it appeared as
though the spiders did not even notice them as they passed. Then
all of a sudden the webs and the insects were gone; and the children
saw crawling slowly in the path, as if it was afraid of them and
wanted to get out of their way, a spider larger than any of those
they had seen; a spider whose body was ringed with scarlet and
gold, whose long, slender black legs shone like polished jet, and
whose eyes were like bright-green emeralds; a spider handsome
enough to be the king of all the spiders.
And while Eva was admiring the beautiful colors of the insect,
Aster let go her hand, and, stooping down, passed his finger gently
over its gold and scarlet back. Then the spider raised its head, and
looked at Eva with its bright-green eyes, which, as Eva gazed at
them, appeared to grow larger and brighter, and dazzled her own;
and then a mist seemed to come over them, and everything began
to fade slowly away; and she never noticed how Aster went, slowly,
nearer and nearer to the insect, crouching down into the path as he
did so, nor how the spider, by degrees, began to grow larger, and
moved towards the side of the path, till a sudden cry from Aster,
“Eva! Eva! help me!” roused her from the trance in which she stood,
in which she saw nothing but the emerald eyes, like two gleaming
lights; and then she saw that the beautiful spider had enveloped
Aster in a large web which it had spun around him, and was
dragging him off the path, to carry him away with it.
But Eva was not going to lose her charge. Springing forward, she
threw her arms around him. And as her dress touched the web, it
fell off, releasing him; and the spider, unfolding a pair of blue wings,
flew into the forest with a loud cry of disappointment; and as it flew
away, its shape changed, and Eva, looking after it, with her arms still
around Aster, saw that it had one of the terrible faces which she had
seen so often before. Then it disappeared, and the two went on, or
rather tried to go on, for Aster complained that his feet were
fastened to the ground; and then Eva saw that they were still
tangled in some of the spider’s web; and both Eva and Aster tried in
vain to break it. But Eva was nearly in despair, when, as she
stooped, one of her long golden curls brushed against the web, and
then it melted away and vanished like smoke.
Then, and not till then, were they able to go on. But Aster walked
forward unwillingly, and complained that he was tired, and began to
insist upon Eva’s stopping to rest. But she felt that they would not be
safe until after the moon was gone, and so they went on. At every
mossy stone, every fair cluster of flowers, Aster would insist upon
stopping, but Eva would not listen to him, for she always heard, at
these places, a friendly voice which said, “Go on, go on;” and so
they went on.
But at last Aster, who did nothing but complain of weariness, told
Eva that he could and would go no farther. Seeing a great, velvety,
green mushroom growing in the path, he ran and sat down upon it,
saying that it was a seat which had been made and put there for
him, and that Eva should not share it.
He had scarcely said this, had scarcely seated himself, when the
mushroom changed into a great green frog, which, with Aster seated
astride upon its back, began to hop nimbly away in the direction of
the forest. But Eva, whose eyes had never for a moment left the boy,
sprang forward, and before Aster—pleased at the motion of the frog
—could say a word, she had dragged him off his strange steed,
which turned and snapped at her, but, instead of touching her,
caught the skirt of Aster’s coat in his mouth and held on to it till
Eva’s efforts tore it from him, leaving, however, a small piece of the
velvet in the frog’s mouth. Even then he tried to seize Aster again,
and it was not till Eva’s dress touched him that he turned to leave
them, still holding in his mouth the scrap torn from Aster’s coat, and
as he hopped off the path he faded away just like a shadow.
Then, too, the moon sank from the sky, and the two children,
completely worn out, lay down and slept, and Eva knew that for a
little while, at least, Aster was safe, because as she lay down she
heard a little song which said;

Tranquil be your sleep,

Peaceful be your rest,
We a watch will keep,
Naught shall you molest;
Sleep, Eva, sleep.

Where our light may shine,

Where we weave our charm,
In our magic line,
Naught may cause you harm;
Sleep, Aster, sleep.

Then all was still. But though Eva, trusting to this song, was not
afraid to lie down and sleep, she never knew that while they did
sleep a circle of tiny shining lamps, like fairy-lamps, gleamed all
around them,—a magic circle which nothing could pass. And
although both the spider and the green frog returned, bringing with
them the piece of Aster’s coat, by means of which they hoped to
steal him away from Eva while he was asleep, they could not pass
the circle which the Light Elves had drawn around the sleeping pair,
and, after many vain efforts to cross it, they vanished.
And the grateful elves had watched and saved Aster because Eva,
that morning, seeing a shapeless, helpless worm lying near a stone,
which was about to fall and crush it, had tenderly picked up the
worm, and laid it carefully on a cool, green leaf, out of danger. The
grateful Light Elf,—for such she was,—being compelled to wear the
form of a worm while the moonlight lasted, had come with her
companions to return what service she could and give Eva a peaceful
rest.
 So, as ever, Good overcomes Evil, and no service, no matter how
small or how trifling it may seem, is ever wasted or thrown away.
 CHAPTER VIII.

WHAT ASTER DID.

HE farther the progress which the children made into the

forest, the wilder and more singular became the country
through which they passed. Shadows cast by no visible forms went
before them in the path,—shadows which shook, moved, and
trembled; which seemed as if they might all at once become real
forms; shadows which had something dreadful about them, so that
Eva was glad they were always in advance of her, and that her foot
never had to touch the ground on which they lay. The color of the
moon’s light was changed. She shone with a pale greenish lustre. No
green plants, no beautiful flowers, grew in the stony, rocky soil
through which their path now lay. It produced things like sticks full
of thorns. Under the stones lay hidden long, slender lizards, or
coiled-up serpents with forked and fiery-red tongues; things like dry
twigs, which would suddenly display many legs and run away. Slow-
crawling, hairy caterpillars, and round, fat, slimy worms, lay
everywhere. Things like insects, which yet had no life, grew, instead
of flowers, on the thorny sticks which stood among the stones. One
of these things, in shape like a dragon-fly, Aster picked; but he
immediately dropped it, and said that it had stung him; and from
that time Eva thought that he became more and more perverse, and
that he was every day less like the gentle, affectionate boy she had
been so glad to receive as a companion. She saw, too, that, while
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