Zorka brought the boys food in a dish, urging her dear one to eat, but Eric shook his head.
"Mother Zorka, willst thou tend him and give him a bed? for he was good to me when I was in sore distress."
Then taking the picture he went off alone in the darkness of the night. The wind howled, and the rain came down in heavier showers, beating upon the miserable tents.
Zorka sat with the young shepherd in the shelter of her dwelling, looking out upon the darkness into which the lonely mourner had disappeared.
"Was she an angel?" asked Radu, who had finished his meal, and whose face was still wet with tears.
"I think she was," said Zorka, nodding her head.
"Tell me," he continued, "why did she die?"
"Why did she die?" repeated the tired old woman. "Because it is given to some never to wake from their dream of bliss, and those it is said are loved of the gods."
"Why was he left alone? Do the gods not love him?"
Zorka sighed: "Because some must learn to the bitter end to overcome all they reach; must learn to leave behind them both joy and pain; to rise above all their desires, and hopes, and fears, till their souls are as pure and bright as an archangel's sword; and those are the chosen of God."