He came forward slowly with his arm stretched out; as the moonlight fell upon his face she saw that it was the old shoemaker, Medmer Theed, and that he was smiling upon her. The sight of one friendly face in that dark and desolate garden struck a chord in her that had not been wakened before; she caught his hands and burst into a sudden passion of tears. The old man drew her gently to his breast, and laid her head there and whispered soothingly to her. "My child, my baby!" he said. "They shall not harm you. I knew you would come back; I have waited here so long--so long! Yet the nights have been full of dreams of you; the wind has whispered your name among the trees; the birds seeking their nests have cried to me, 'She will come back; when all else desert her, she will come back to you.' And see, they were right, and all the waiting is ended. Just as I dreamed that she came back to me--she who died--so the child I loved has returned, and all my watching is over." "Take me away! Take me away, and hide me," she cried, clinging to him. "Yes, yes, they shall not find you, child. The dreams have come true at last, or almost true. They shall not find you; we will hide you safely in the old place you knew as a child, and I will watch over you. Come--they shall not find you." Unresisting, she submitted to be half led, half carried from the garden and along the deserted streets to the old man's house. There, with his arm still fast about her, he unlocked the door and led her in and took her to an inner room; with the gentleness of a woman he laid her down there and covered her up. In a few moments, from sheer weariness, she was fast asleep. It happened that night that Captain Garraway-Kyle, feeling restless and lonely, had thrown his old-fashioned military cloak about him and had gone for a long walk. Coming back very late he paused for a moment near the old archway through which the shop of the shoemaker was reached, and after a moment's hesitation passed through and stopped before the shop. The captain was a man of few friends, and had been in the habit, since his first conversation with old Medmer Theed, of going to the place sometimes in the evening for the sake of company. On this occasion, feeling for some indefinite reason more lonely even than usual, and seeing a light gleaming through the shutters, he knocked softly at the door. In a moment it was opened, and he saw the old man, bearing a candle, standing within the doorway. The captain civilly wished him good-evening and made as if to enter in the ordinary way. For the moment, however, the old shoemaker barred his entrance; then, stepping aside, with a grunt, he somewhat churlishly admitted him. "It's very late, I'm afraid," said the captain, "but I saw a light, and guessed you were not in bed. Are you alone?" "Of course," replied Theed. "What did you expect? Am I not always alone?"