"But to return to my story," continued the Nawab, "the sprite waving her arms beckoned the king to follow her, and led the way towards the river's mouth. It entered the lake only a short distance from where they were. The king experienced a poignant grief when for a moment he feared that, unable to follow her, he must forever lose sight of his beauteous visitant. But in another instant he was stepping into a tiny skiff which suddenly appeared where a moment before had floated a lily. The magical craft followed its spirit guide, moving against the tide, impelled by unseen power, and ever and anon the sprite beckoned him onward. Soon they entered the river, which here was deep, broad, and smoothly flowing. Motion ceased when they were under a high overhanging bank whose drooping foliage screened them from view. Here his guide again spoke: "'Ask and ye hear, O king, 'tis meet That mortal want should be replete From fulness of immortal state.' "At once his soul's sadness found voice and he cried: "'Tell me how may my increase in virtue resemble this river in its onward flow?' "Then the spirit answered: "'From veiled spring that river sweeps Whose swelling tides in glory Roll onward to th' infinite deeps, It is the soul's own story.' "Again she beckoned him on, and without effort of his own he glided over the water until they paused again where a lotus flower rested on the tide. The bees clustered around it, attesting its sweetness, and when the king bent over it and breathed its odour he cried: "'Ah, how shall my piety be pure like the lotus, and the savour of my virtues spread abroad?' "And again the sprite replied: "'Fairest flowers bloom unseen, Graces that are manifest Are of largess less serene; Ever veiled things are best.' "When the eve deepened they were in a forest, a single star overhead shone through the gloom, and was reflected in the water. Looking upward the king asked for the third time: "'How shall the days of my life be glorious and shine like the stars?' "Ere she plunged beneath the flood to vanish forever, his guide answered: "'Love, like the star, the shade of eve, Seclusion, heavenly rest, And calm, for these things interweave The bowers of the Blest?'