The Flame-Flower 53

and turned; and there stood Morddec, son
of the wolf-woman, mocking him.

Hatred of all men and all things were in
Evan’s heart, and bitterness and rage. He
raised his javelin and hurled it at Morddec;
but it struck his breast as though it had
struck a shield of bronze, and bounded off;
and Morddec laughed mockingly and was
gone.

Now Evan returned no more by daylight
to look upon his wife and child, but took
their meat secretly by night, and laid it at
the door of the hut and stole away.

Flamma was now ten years of age, fair
beyond words, and of a sweet presence.
For a year she had not looked upon her
father, nor had her mother spoken to her;
and she wandered alone amid the marshes
and the forest, talking with the birds and the
squirrels ; and these loved her and came to
her. But often she sat beneath the trees
and sobbed, so that the wild things of the
forest wondered at her, and crept close to
her as if to console her.

One day, as she sat thus, having strayed