He would not set her free. The vision of Begga, sullen and displeased at the loss of the knife, grew fainter and fainter. In this frame of mind he welcomed the stranger gladly, as a pleasant diversion from the thoughts which had tormented him just before. "What is your name, my flower of Viersel?" "Hendrika Let--Rika." "That has always been one of my favorite names. It was my mother's. Do your parents live far from here?" "My parents! I never knew them. I am a servant at _boer_ Verhulst's, whose farm you see down there, a short distance away behind the alder-trees." "You do not ask my name, Rika?" She was burning to know the name of the beloved one, for he was indeed the brilliant visitor of the enchanted night. She stilled the throbbing of her beating heart, and pretended to show only the polite indifference which an honest girl would feel to an agreeable passer-by who accosted her on the road. "You shrug your shoulders and pout, Rika! Of what interest is a soldier's name to you? Probably he is a bad fellow, as the cure preaches,--a spendthrift, a deceiver of women. Well, I will tell you all the same. I am Cornelis Davie, otherwise Kors, Kors the Black, now brigadier in the first battery of the fifth regiment of artillery, stationed at Fort IV., at Vieux-Dieu, near Antwerp. In two months I shall return to Wildonck for good, and take up the management of the Stork Farm, for old Davie has worked long enough. Then, Rika, Kors Davie will marry. Can you not suggest some girl for him, my sweet Rika? Do you think he will find some fair ones to choose from at Viersel?" "I think you are getting further and further away from Wildonck!" said the coquette. It was true; they had walked along together, and the canal was now far behind them. "You rogue!" said Kors, a little annoyed. "Why need you remind me of the moment of parting?" "If you follow this road, you may perhaps arrive to-morrow. Farewell, my soldier. My cows may go astray as you have." The happy girl pretended to move away. This time he seized her round the waist, and holding her in his arms, repeated again and again. "You are beautiful, Rika!" "If our Viersel lads saw you so foolish, they would laugh at you. Are there no girls at Wildonck, or in the town?" "The devil take the lads of Viersel, the girls of Wildonck, and the women of Antwerp! I will win you from all the men in your village, sweet one! you are more beautiful to me than all the girls of my native place! Rika, if you will consent, our marriage shall be fixed." "This love will not last." He pressed her more closely to him. "Let me go, let me go, brigadier, or I shall scream. You have surely been drinking. There are several inns between here and your fort, are there not? What would people say if they met me with you? Ah! to the right there is a road which branches off and will take you home. Be off! Good-night!" The susceptible Davie had now forgotten the very existence of the fair and prudent Begga Leuven.