As it was, he took a lingering, farewell look and turned to retrace his steps, whereupon the queen fairy laughed at him softly. He paused abruptly, then turned around, with care, so as not to frighten her. But of course she was invisible. Then she spoke again with the sweetest foreign accent imaginable.
"You had better cross upon the waterfall, sir. There is no bridge above." After an instant, during which he strained his eyes to find her, she laughed again.
"Here I am, in the tree, across the pond."
"Oh!" Looking over the fork of a tree-trunk, perhaps twice the height of his head above the ground, Anthony beheld a ravishing face and two very bright eyes. Without removing his gaze, he leaned his gun carefully against a bush—firearms have an abominable effect upon hamadryads—and said:
"I knew you were here all the time."
"Indeed!" The eyes opened in astonishment. "You did not see me at all."
"Of course, but I knew you were somewhere close by, just the same. How did you get up there?"
"I climbed up."
"Why didn't you hide under the waterfall?"
"I did not hide, senor. I am trying to reach my orchid."