“A spirit, O my master, a spirit of light, who for you and yours left a home in the realms above. But now I must leave you, my master. Farewell; farewell.”
“Lad, lad, my sweet lad, leave me not. Stay with me still,” cried the knight. “Ask what reward you please, but do not forsake me. Remain, my faithful little page, for I cannot live without you.”
“You have asked me what I am and whence I came, and have mentioned a reward. The charm, my dear master, is broken, and now I must leave you. In return for the things that I have done for you so cheerfully and so lovingly, I ask you to place a silver bell in the midst of the forest. Its tinkling sound may guide many weary travelers and help them to find their way home. Dedicate the bell to God and to his angelic host, O master; and now receive my last farewell.”
The little page suddenly vanished. No one saw him leave the hall nor pass through the castle gates, and no trace of him was ever found. The angel page had faded from mortal sight and returned to his home above. He had gone back to live with spirits as good and faithful and pure as himself.
The knight at once had the silver bell placed in the forest. But he could not forget his faithful page. He sought for him everywhere, and when at evening the silver tones of the little bell rang out in the quiet air they seemed to him like the words of an angel, and filled his heart with restless desire.
The noble knight seemed to lose all interest in life. His strength began to fail; his step grew slow and feeble; and one day when the shades of night were falling and the first tinkle of the little bell came to his ear, he softly murmured “My page, my faithful little page”; and he went to live with the spirit he had learned to love so well.
