He sprang down and hastened toward the girl.
She too came nearer.
"You here? And never said a word! How you frightened me!"
"I was just going to call when you turned round."
They shook hands, heartily, as comrades.
"Look!" he cried eagerly; "isn't it just like a palace all round—the castle of Tapio, and I'm the lord of the castle, and you're the forest fairy, come to visit me. And your clothes smell of the pine woods, and there's a scent of birch in your hair, and you come playing on a shepherd's pipe, music sweet as honey…."
The girl looked up in astonishment. "What—what makes you talk like that?"
He stopped in some perplexity. "'Tis the forest talks so. But now you must come in—right in to the palace."
They went through to the middle of the clearing.
"And have you felled all those, all by yourself?" She cast a warm glance at his sunburnt neck and powerful shoulders. "How strong you are!"