"Yes, may-be--I do not know."
"Beata! oh, would I could see you!" he said for the first time since they had been together. It thrilled her with delight as he said it, she herself knew not wherefore.
CHAPTER V.
It was now noon-day; Beata and Donatus took a short rest to eat their bread. The forest waved high above their heads, and close to them the noisy Wildbach tumbled down the cliff, and the girl fetched some of the cool water for their frugal meal.
"I cannot hear you, Beata, are you there?" asked the blind man.
"Certainly, my good master, quite close to you!"
"Why are you so quiet?" he asked.
"I have been thinking of a little song that says in rhyme just what you asked me to-day. Would you like to hear it?"
"Of course; are you skilled in such things?"
"A little," and in a low voice she sang as follows.