“She was leaning against a little tree at the edge of the thicket when I first saw her. There was plenty of light from the moon and it sifted down through the trees and fell across her head and neck. As neat a bit of stage-setting for my business as I could have fixed up myself; and I am some hand at that. You have seen my place, and you know. I noticed a queer circlet around her neck. The stones were like soft pink fires. I had not ever seen any like them before and I stood there trying to figure whether they were rubies and how much they might be worth. While I was wondering about it, she half turned and I got my first good look at her face. “She was younger than I had reckoned on, and not bad to look at, but queer, queer! Something about her struck me all wrong; gave me a sort of ugly shiver. Another thing struck me all right, though. That was that she had jewels on pretty much all her fingers. In one of my letters to her I gave her a hint about that: told her that gems gave the stars a stronger hold on the wearer, and she had taken it all in. She certainly was an easy subject. “A bundle done up in paper was on the ground near her. I ducked back, very still, and got into my robe. The arrangement in her letter was for me to whistle when I got there. I whistled. She straightened up. “‘Come,’ she said. ‘I am waiting.’ “Her voice was rather deep and soft. But it wasn’t a pleasant softness. Some way I did not like it any better than I liked her looks. It was too late to back out, though. I stepped out into the open and gave her the grand bow. “‘The Master of the Stars, at your command,’ I said. “‘You are not as I expected to see you,’ she said. “That was a sticker. It might mean most anything. I took a chance. “‘Oh, well,’ I said, ‘we all change.’ “It went. ‘We change as life changes,’ she said. ‘They never found you, did they?’ “From the way she said it I saw she expected me to say ‘No’. So I said ‘No’. “‘That was left for me to return and do,’ she went on with a kind of queer joy that gave me the shivers again. “‘Yes,’ I agreed, wishing I knew what she was driving at, but sticking to my text. ‘And here we are.’ “‘Together,’ says she. ‘Isn’t it wonderful! After all these years. The instant I saw your statement in the newspaper I knew it was your soul calling to mine across the ages.’ “You know, Professor Kent, I thought that was so good I made a note of it for future business use. While I was saying it over to myself she gave me a jar: “‘Our boat is at the shore,’ she said. “In that last letter she mentioned a ship. And, now, here was this boat business. (Afterward I looked for a sign of either, but could not find any. I thought perhaps it would explain the other part of the ‘we’ and ‘our’.) If I was going to elope by sea I wanted to know it, and I said as much. “‘Are you steadfast?’ she asked.