Calypso, it transpired, had certain household matters—­of which the “King” of course, was ever divinely oblivious—­that would take her on an errand into the town.  Those disposed of, we two eternal children were at liberty to be as foolish as we pleased.  The “King” bowed his uncrowned head, as kings, from time immemorial have bowed their diadems before the quiet command of the domesticities; and it was arranged that I should be Calypso’s escort on her errand.

So we set forth in the freshness of the morning, and the woods that had been so black and bewildering at my coming opened before us in easy paths, and all that tropical squalor that had been foul with sweat and insects seemed strangely vernal to me, so that I could hardly believe that I had trodden that way before.  And for our companion all the way along—­or, at least, for my other companion—­was the Wonder of the World, the beautiful strangeness of living, and that marvel of a man’s days upon the earth which lies in not knowing what a day shall bring forth, if only we have a little patience with Time—­Time, with those gold keys at his girdle, ready, at any turn of the way, to unlock the hidden treasure that is to be the meaning of our lives.

How should I try to express what it was to walk by her side, knowing all that we both knew?—­knowing, or giddily believing that I knew, how her heart, with every breath she took, vibrated like a living flower, with waves of colour, changing from moment to moment like a happy trembling dawn.  To know—­yet not to say!  Yes! we were both at that divine moment which hangs like a dew-drop in the morning sun—­ah! all too ready to fall.  O! keep it poised, in that miraculous balance, ’twixt Time and Eternity—­for this crystal made of light and dew is the meaning of the life of man and woman upon the earth.

As we came to the borders of the wood, near the edge of the little town, we called a counsel of two.  As the outcome of it, we concluded that, having in mind the “King’s” ambitious plans for our cloth-of-gold future, and for other obvious reasons, it was better that she went into the town alone—­I to await her in the shadow of the mahogany tree.

As she turned to leave me, she drew up from her bosom a little bag that hung by a silver chain, and, opening it, drew out, with a laugh—­a golden doubloon!

I sprang toward her; but she was too quick for me, and laughingly vanished through an opening in the trees.  I was not to kiss her that day.

CHAPTER VIII

News!

Calypso was so long coming back that I began to grow anxious—­was, indeed, on the point of going into the town in search of her; when she suddenly appeared, rather out of breath, and evidently a little excited—­as though, in fact, she had been running away from something.  She caught me by the arm, with a laugh: 

“Do you want to see your friend Tobias?” she said.