I turned with
sudden dismay to depart from their presence unobserved as I had
entered; but the children had now espied me, and came running, filled
with wonder of Rosinante and the stranger beside her.
They stayed at a little distance from us with dwelling eyes and parted
lips. Then the fairer and, as it seemed to me, elder of the brothers
stooped and plucked a few blades of grass and proffered them, half
fearfully, to the beast that amazed him. But the other gave less heed
to Rosinante, fixed the filmy lustre of his eyes on me, his wonderful
young face veiled with that wisdom which is in all children, and of an
immutable gravity.
But by this time, she who it seemed had the charge of these children
had followed them with her eyes. To her then, leaving Rosinante in an
ecstasy of timidity before such god-like boys, I addressed myself.
So might a traveller lost beneath strange stars address unanswering
Night. She, however, raised a compassionate face to me and listened
with happy seriousness as to a child returned in safety at evening
from some foolhardy venture. Yet there seemed only a deeper
youthfulness in her face for all its eternity of brooding on her
beauteous children.
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