dolls of stone, dolls carved from the mammoth's tusks, from the bones of the cave bear, from the
saber-toothed tiger's fangs. They had the dark wisdom even then, Ricori."
He nodded: "Once I had a man about me whom I liked well. A Transylvanian. One day I asked him why
he had come to America. He told me a strange tale. He said that there had been a girl in his village whose
mother, so it was whispered, knew things no Christian should know. He put it thus, cautiously, crossing
himself. The girl was comely, desirable-yet he could not love her. She, it seemed, loved him-or perhaps
it was his indifference that drew her. One afternoon, coming home from the hunt, he passed her hut. She
called to him. He was thirsty, and drank the wine she offered him. It was good wine. It made him
gay-but it did not make him love her.
"Nevertheless, he went with her into the hut, and drank more wine. Laughing, he let her cut hair from his