| "O moon get out of my way," said the stork, |
| "O stork get out of my light," said the moon. |
| "I will not," said the stork, |
| "I will not," said the moon: |
| So that is why the stork is in the light of the moon, |
| And that is why the moon is in the way of the stork. |
It was a little voice, with no great melody, but well fitted for so frail a theme. Hoshiko joined her, stumbling upon a word, at which Yoné chided her for forgetting, laughed happily and crept yet closer. Then she said, after a silence:—
"Now!"
"What?" asked Hoshiko; for that she did not know.
"Oh, have you forgotten—have you forgotten? That also? Alas—alas! After the song you spoke of—"
Her pretty head was burrowed deeply into the space beneath Hoshiko's chin.
"What?" Hoshiko had to ask again.
"Of marriage," whispered the girl, in terror. And the terror of Hoshiko was no less than that of Yoné.
"You said, you swore by this sacred tomb of a hero, that if the gods did not send you the red death we should be married one to the other—"
"But, beloved," breathed Hoshiko, in further terror, "I am still a soldier, still bound to the great red death. I am here but this day. To-morrow, this night yet, I go to battle. Would you wish me to marry you and at once go to the field?"