Finding him so serious, so sympathetic, and so interested, put this remarkable girl on her mettle. She began to think very hard, and show that intense power of attention she had always in reserve for great occasions.
"Then you must not touch me nor speak to me," said she. "The past is such a mist."
He obeyed, and left off binding her wrist; and now he literally hung upon her words.
Then she took one step away from him; her bright eyes veiled themselves, and seemed to see nothing external, but looked into the recesses of the brain. Her forehead, her hand, her very body, thought, and we must try, though it is almost hopeless, to convey some faint idea of her manner and her words.
"Let—me—see."
Then she paused.
"I remember—WHITE SWANS."
A pause.
"Were they swans?"
"Or ships?"