"Once having known Thy smile, O Krishna! how can we bear the dawning of day without the light of Thy smile, in which the concentrated beauty of Thy whole creation lies, to fill it and make each day whole? "And how can we see the shadows of night thicken and darken, and know that no more we will roam in forest and dance in the moonlight with Thee, our Beloved? "Oh! depart not from us, Thou in whom we are buried, Thou whose love doth envelop us all, Thou whose universe-embrace around us is entwined! Oh! go not from out our midst, we implore Thee!" Thus, tearing their tresses and weeping, the Gopis clung to the wheels of the chariot in which Krishna and Rāma sat ready to start on their journey to Mathura. Then Krishna arose, and looking deep in the eye of each, he waved his hand in farewell, an€ left the smile of Bliss with them that filled each soul to overflowing. Then forward the restless chargers plunged, the dust rising high and quite covering the chariot. The maids stood like hewn marble, still yet serene. And the cattle that grazed on the hillside turned towards the road where the chariot vanished, in their eyes a look of yearning love; while the deer on the brow of the hill, with arched neck and wild, shy glance, heaved a quick, short sigh, as if hurt. And the soft breasts of the singing birds quivered, and a little sad song burst from their throats; while the trees and the flowers hung limp and wilted, as if the glad life had left their hearts. A groan arose from the wild beasts in the forest, as if in the hand of death they were trapped. The sun vanished from the skies, and all Nature seemed clothed with the garment of sadness. Then forth the sun burst in glorious splendor, as the joy of the smile of the Lord of Love awoke in potency to bless all living things whereon it had fallen. And sweet Brindāban in silence lay, forever blessed and forever beloved, for the Feet of Him, who was God, had walked there and made holy its soil. CHAPTER XXIX. And the chariot, bearing Akrura, Rāma and Krishna, was followed close by the carts bearing Nanda and the Gopas, who carried gifts for the king Kangsa, to whom all must present the best of their store. On reaching the banks of the Jumnā, Krishna and Rāma in sportiveness descended from the chariot and dipped in the sacred waters of the river, then ascended again to the chariot. Whereat Akrura, the ambassador, had a dip in the water, too, reciting the sacred texts in the meanwhile, when, lo, in the waters where he stood he beheld the laughing Krishna and Rāma, sitting in the lap of the god of water. Amazed and bewildered, he gazed towards the chariot where last he had seen the brothers, and there they sat talking, as when he had left them. Again he dipped his head 'neath the waves of the water and again he saw Rāma and Krishna, and knew that his senses were not deluded, Krishna, though seemingly a youth with all a youth's sportiveness and play, yet was the Lord Incarnate.