"'What is your pleasure, big one?'
"'Shall we turn back?'
"'Oh, no.'
"I was absolutely not willed to give up so quickly what filled me with such intense satisfaction.
"'Well, then, to the Illowo woods,' said he, pointing to the bluish wall which bordered the distant horizon.
"I nodded and gave my horse the whip, so that it reared up high and plunged along in wild bounds.
"'Very creditable for a young lady of fifteen.' I heard his voice behind me.
"'Sixteen, if you please!' cried I, half turning round towards him. 'By the bye, if you again reproach me with my youth, there's an end to our good fellowship.'
"'Heaven forbid!' he laughed, and then we rode on in silence.
"The wood of Illowo is intersected by a small rivulet, whose steep banks are so close together that the alder branches from either side intertwine and form a high-vaulted, green dome over the surface of the water, terminating at each bend in a dense wall of foliage, behind which it builds itself up anew. Down there, close to the water's edge, I had known, since my childhood, many a secluded nook, where I had often sat for hours, reading or dreaming to myself, while my horse peacefully grazed up in the wood.