She thought of the birds and squirrels that she had seen. Would the storm hurt them? She asked her father when he came home after it was all over. He smiled and said:
"I have to see Zerzan, the forester, about something. You can go with me to see if any birds are left."
How beautiful the wood looked when they reached it! Every leaf sparkled, while the birds sang far more than on the day before, Marouska thought.
"You see," said her father, "that all nature sometimes likes a bath."
"And the spirit of the wood, did he also like it?" inquired Marouska with some timidity. Then she told her father about the voice that had answered their call.
"That's the Echo," said her father, and whether it was because he could not explain it, or whether it was because the forester just then met them, he made no further explanations. Thus it came about that Marouska kept her bewildered first impressions for many a day after.