'Then
must I hasten,' she said, 'and be before the wolves.'
Therewith she took a brand from the fire, and bade me bear one
also and lead her: so did I easily enough, for the moon was up,
and what with moon and snow, it was well nigh as bright as the day.
So when we came to the dead woman, my mistress kneeled down by
her and undid the collar of her cloak, which I had not touched,
and took something from her neck swiftly, and yet I,
who was holding the torch, saw that it was a necklace of blue
stones and green, with gold between--Yea, dear Champion,
like unto thine as one peascod is to another," quoth she.
And therewith the distressfulness of her face which had worn Ralph's
heart while she had been telling her tale changed, and she came,
as it were, into her new life and the love of him again, and she
kissed him and laid her cheek to his and he kissed her mouth.
And then she fetched a sigh, and began with her story again.
"My mistress took the necklace and put it in her pouch,
and said as to herself: 'Here, then, is another seeker
who hath not found, unless one should dig a pit for her here
when the thaw comes, and call it the Well at the World's End:
belike it will be for her as helpful as the real one.'
Then she turned to me and said: 'Do thou with the rest what
thou wilt,' and therewith she went back hastily to the house.
But as for me, I went back also, and found a pick and a mattock
in the goat-house, and came back in the moonlight and scraped
the snow away, and dug a pit, and buried the poor damsel there
with all her gear.
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