Emboldened by her silence, Berl ran up and fell on his knees with a little laugh, thinking she would scold him for having dared to follow her. He was perplexed, however, to see that she still did not seem to notice him, and when at last he took one of her hands, it was as cold as ice. Starting up in alarm, he looked closely at her, and found that she did not breathe—placed his hand on her heart, and discovered that it did not beat. “Why, she’s dead!” he cried in alarm. “Lurina, it is I, your husband, Berl.” Still Lurina did not answer. So, convinced she was dead, Berl threw her body over his shoulder and hurried home. When he got inside, he did everything he could to revive her, but it was no use; the beautiful Lurina was dead, and Berl sat all night beside her body, weeping bitterly. At the first red flush of dawn, he went from house to house, telling Lurina’s parents and all the neighbours that his wife had died the preceding night in the forest. Every one came to Berl’s house to see if it was true, and offer advice, which one’s neighbours are very fond of doing. Among those who came was the Wise Woman, who surveyed the beautiful Lurina for some time in silence, then laughed loudly. “Why do you laugh?” asked Berl, angry with her for doing so. “I laugh at your folly,” said the Wise Woman, looking oddly at him. “Lurina is no more dead than I am.” “But her heart is not beating, and she does not breathe,” said Panus quickly. “Nevertheless, she is not dead,” replied the Wise Woman quietly. “Have you ever seen her like this before?” she added, turning to Cora. “No, never,” answered Cora, who was weeping bitterly. “Ah! that is because you never followed her to the forest as Berl did,” said the Wise Woman thoughtfully. “I told you, Berl, that your wife had faery blood in her veins, and you should have taken my advice about the marriage.” “Well, it’s too late now to blame me,” said Berl roughly, for he did not like to be reproached. “What am I to do?” “I will tell you,” observed the Wise Woman. “Come to my cottage at once.” So Berl left the body of his beautiful Lurina with her parents, and walked with the Wise Woman to her cottage, which was just on the verge of the wood, but protected from the entry of the faeries by a rusty horse-shoe fastened on the door. [Illustration] When Berl entered, the Wise Woman drew a circle on the ground with her magic staff, whereupon a ring of pale flickering fire appeared; then she pulled seven hairs out of the tail of her black cat, and threw them into the midst of the circle, where they began to twist about in a most surprising manner. While they were doing this, the Wise Woman waved her staff seven times in the air, muttering strange words, and a white smoke arose from the centre of the fire circle where the hairs were jumping about. This white smoke went up like a white cloud, then suddenly vanished, and Berl saw a little man, all dressed in red, sitting in the centre of the circle. [Illustration]