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."
A little hand appeared beside the face, and a finger pointed to
one of the big air plants above her. Kirk beheld a marvellous
white, dove-shaped flower, nodding upon a slender stalk.
"I climbed up on the big vine; it is just like a ladder.
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