Page:Lady Barbarity; a romance (IA ladybarbarityrom00snai).pdf/123

 And riding on a moonbeam, I come to realms of men; Yet when I see the day gleam, I then go back again."

I never saw six grown men affected so profoundly. One broke into a howl, not unlike a dog's when his tail hath been trod on suddenly, wheeled about and fled precipitately thence. Two others locked themselves in one another's arms, and turned away their eyes in the anguish of their fright; whilst the remainder seemed struck entirely stupid, fell back against the tree trunk, and, being unable to believe their eyes, opened their mouths as widely as their orbs, probably to lend some assistance to their vision.

As for me, you may be sure I was delighted highly by this flattering reception. And I do not doubt that I made a most unearthly figure with masses of hair streaming wild on my shoulders, my eyes wild-staring, and my feet tripping a fantastic measure to the shrill chant issuing from my lips:

"I ever choose the woodland, For here the wild birds are, And I'm a sister to them,  Though my home it is a star."

Thus I sang as I danced down the glade, waving my hands above my head in a kind of unholy glee at the weird music that I made. I halted opposite these tremblers, and set up a ridiculous scream of