"But was she happy?" queried Radu, for the second time.
"Yes," answered Zorka, with a solemn voice. "Yes, she was happy. She died of joy."
XXVIII
A star has ceased to shine in my lonely skies,
Sometimes I dream I see it shining in my heart.
Fiona Macleod.
Zorka could not bear to part from Eric of the golden locks, and begged him to remain at her side.
He, too, for a while felt that he dared not leave the old woman who had led him to his love; so all that winter he wandered about with the travelling clan, from clime to clime, leaving far behind him the country of his dream. Wherever he went the falcon followed, flying as near his head as it could.
Radu had parted from Eric with tears in his eyes; both boys felt as they joined hands for the last time that nothing could wipe out the deep affection they had conceived for each other.