Thus Ariel played; and from day to day, even as his brother at the forge found new devices, added knowledge to knowledge in his high art, to be lost in that flood which washed, whiter than wool, the sins, of the world. And from day to day there came, from tribes far distant, many to whom rumor had spoken of this joy late found; and of them, one so fashioned in love’s mould, that she drew after her, ever as she moved, the eyes of men. Not Aglaia and her sisters, of the heroic age of poesy universal, could match her qualities, of an excellence so rare, that the oldest, who remembered Eve, called her Eve’s daughter. Now, alone, her sole attendant a young gazelle, hung with garlands woven by her hand, and tamed to reflect, in the soft lustre of its eyes, eyes more soft and more lustrous far, she stood aloof, then nearer drew, and halting, drank in with greedy ear, as one long famished, the liquid melody which floated, beating, upon the air. She listened till her very breathing hung upon each note, and grew, or was fined away, in consonance with the measure; and as the master closed, she bowed before him, low, in reverence, even to the ground; and rising, asked—

“Art thou of the sons of God?”

Then first did Ariel’s eyes rest upon the maid there standing, bright, as a vision from that land which he in childhood sought, to lose forever; and fire ran through every vein, and that passion which enforces unity of person and of will.

“Fairest of Eve’s daughters, such worship is not mine. To Him who clothed thee with His beauty, alone belongs reverence, with prayer.”

“In my father’s house I have seen many like unto thyself, winged.”

“Whence art thou?”

“From east of Eden.”

“And thy father?”

“Cain.”

“Who yet lives?”

“Mighty in that glory which is his as the first-born of all the earth.”

“How looks he?”

“Noble, even as thyself, with twice thy stature, majestic; and upon his front supreme burns a star, inextinguishable, the covenant of mercy for that act of which I may no further speak.”

“The blood of Abel!”

Deep night overcame them suddenly, and swept past, as the rushing of a strong wind.

“My father!”

Then turned the maid and fled; in fleetness outstripping the garlanded beast which hastened to catch her steps, retreating, lighter than its own. And as, upon the plains of Arcady, Melanion did strive with Atalanta in the race, in king Jason’s time, so Ariel, pushed by a power that knows no let, followed quick upon love’s course, nor stayed, till he caught the frighted deer, full many a league removed, panting, upon a bed of violets which lay smiling in the sunlight where the forest opened charily to the sky.

“Oh, primest work of earth!”

Then, in turn, he worshiped, and bowed, even to her feet, which, trembling, he embraced.

“Thou didst follow me to my hurt.”

“I did follow thee for thy love.”

“On this side of Eden I may no longer stay.”

“Eden, where is it, if not with thee!”

“Thus do the angels speak, and then—betray.”

“Powers of the air; false to heaven, they must be false to thee.”

“Thy comeliness had said thou wast of them.”

“Thy comeliness should better have answered thy doubt.”

“A sweet persuader art thou with thy tongue.”

“A sweeter persuasion rests upon thy lips.”

“Hist! I hear the flowers moving.”

“It is the murmur of the sea, far distant, calling.”

“What sayest it?”

“Love.”

The maid, half-yielding, half-refusing, by doubt and trust in turn possessed, bent over the fair-eyed beast recumbent at her side, and stroked its smoking flanks, and played with the garlands now displaced and torn, and sought with pliant fingers to renew a labor which might conceal the passion new-born, struggling in her breast.

“Thou shall forsake thy land and dwell with me; and here, along these paths, and by the waters whose words thou hearest, and with the light, and with darkness, we will all the pleasures prove which God to our first parents gave when, in Paradise, resting, he declared all things good.”

“And Cain?”

“Sweet cousin?”

“It was my father’s shadow that overcame us, and I fled, fearing his anger, from the music of thy tongue.”

“Great is Cain.”

“Loved is Cain.”

And thus, alternating, deprecating, amid the violets standing, they sang in praise of the first-born of the earth.

——