"Shall I ever forget you—you, and this evening?"
Her eyelids quivered, and she bowed her head.
"Kyllikki!" he cried desperately. "Would you hide your eyes from me?—Kyllikki…." There was hope and doubt in his eyes; he loosed his hold of her hands, and clasped his own as if questioningly about her waist.
The girl was trembling. She laid her hands on his shoulders, and then slowly twined her arms about his neck.
A tumult of delight came over him. He pressed her to him fervently, lifting her off her feet—her arms drew closer round him.
He saw the look in her eyes change—giddiness seized him, and he set her down.
"May I…?" he asked, with his eyes.
Her eyes consented—and their lips met….
When at last he let her go, the girl's face was changed almost beyond recognition. On her under lip showed a tiny drop of blood.
A cry of dismay rose up in him, but remained unuttered. A strange intoxication overpowered him—the red drop there was the seal of a friendship deeper and more mysterious than all else—in a wild kiss he drank the blood from her lip. He felt himself on the point of swooning—and wished the world would end there, in that moment.