It was on a hot afternoon that after the midday meal I sought as usual my cherished retreat, wherein I seated myself according to my custom, appreciating at once the melody of the unseen fountain, the droning of the bees in the scented bloom without and the amber radiance caught in the interwoven branches overhead. Lying thus, I sought to hit on some apposite theme whereon to concentrate my powers of meditation. But the jaded brain and the perturbed mind to-day refused to permit me any relief from the engrossing melancholy of my present situation. Thus I sat limp and despairing on my bench, utterly oblivious of the passage of time and only dimly conscious of the amenities of art and nature wherewith I was surrounded. From this drowsy mood of reflection I was suddenly recalled by a rustling sound close beside me. With ears alert I heard the sound increase, and a moment later descried the thick wall of box and laurel tremble and then divide so as to allow the figure of a young female to emerge from its depths. In sheer amazement I continued to stare, grasping every detail of the intruder's face and dress, as she gracefully extricated her form out of the detaining undergrowth. She was taller and slighter in build than the average type of her sex in Meleager; her skin was considerably fairer and of an elegant pallor; her hair had glints of gold and chestnut to relieve its blackness; her eyes were like beryls. Clad in her green robe and coif she certainly appeared a natural incarnation, a veritable hamadryad, amidst these secluded groves which had just produced her. Instinctively I realised she was no true native of Meleager; her figure, her eyes, her skin, her gestures were not those of my subjects; on the contrary, there was a subtle but pervading suggestion that this interloper was of the Earth. Was she then the daughter, or possibly the descendant, of some predecessor of mine in this perilous throne who had risked his crown in an amorous adventure? Who was she? Whence was she? Why was she here? Such questions naturally chased one another across my perplexed brain, but the third of them at least the new-comer was evidently only too anxious to explain. I myself was the goal and aim of her present vagary, for still crouching low she writhed towards my feet, which she proceeded to clasp, whilst with tears in her beautiful eyes and breakings of her rich tender voice she began to implore my protection.