"Upon an insensible object?"
"Yes."
"More so than if it returned your caresses?"
"Probably—there is the speculation. It might one day respond, while certainly if it repaid warmly my love now, one day it would not. Nothing lasts in this world. You have told me so yourself."
The Sage was nettled.
"Yes, there is one thing that lasts, that is friendship," he said.
"Friendship!" exclaimed the Damsel; "but that is not made up of caresses. It does not make the heart beat."
"We were not talking of beating hearts," said the Sage, sententiously.
"Very well. Good-bye, then, Sage." laughed the Damsel. "You must think of more stories for me before I come again."
And, continuing to caress the falcon, she walked away, stately and fair, into the setting sun.