158 LAST 



the twilight of his fading memory, and 

 the desire to approach and to see the little 

 singer became stronger and stronger, al- 

 though he had so often seen others like 

 it before. Then the song grew upon him 

 and possessed his soul, occupying his 

 mind so fully that he was seldom really 

 happy except when listening to it. And 

 he felt again, now in the eventide of his 

 years, the weight of those sweet sorrows 

 which is the burden so willingly borne 

 by all those who have learned to love one 

 another. The older he became, the long- 

 er grew the nights, so much the more 

 sweetly did the voice of the sedge-bird 

 speak to him. And he prayed that the 

 secret which was hidden from him might 

 be revealed, saying, as he thought of the 

 still hours when he would be sleeping, 

 and of the returning morrow when the 

 reeds would be silent in the sun : 



" Come to me in my dreams, and then 

 By day I shall be well again ! 



