58 The Hermit of the Pillar

in silver and blue-green, as though it had
been a semblance of the starry night, came
to him, and said: “Give me thy hand ;”
and Basil touched the hand celestial, and
the Angel drew him from his pillar, and
placed him on the ground, and said: “This
is that land of the west in which thou art
to learn what is for thy good. Take for
staff this piece of tree, and follow this road
till thou reachest the third milestone; and
there, in the early light, thou shalt meet
him who can instruct thee. For a sign, thou
shalt know the man by the little maid of
seven years who helpeth him to drive the
geese. But the man, though young, may
teach one who is older than he, and he is
one who is greatly pleasing in God’s eyes.”

The clear light was glittering on the dewy
grass and the wet bushes when Basil reached
the third milestone. He heard the distant
sound as of a shepherd piping, and he saw
that the road in front of him was crowded
for near upon a quarter of a mile with a
great gathering of geese —fully two thou-
sand they numbered — feeding in the grass
and rushes, and cackling, and hustling each
other aside, and clacking their big orange-