Then I crept through the dark tunnel
where the brook had been and the ground was stony, till at last I came
to the thicket that climbed up the hill, and though the leaves were
coming out upon the trees, everything looked almost as black as it was
on the first day that I went there. And the thicket was just the same,
and I went up slowly till I came out on the big bare hill, and began to
walk among the wonderful rocks. I saw the terrible voor again on
everything, for though the sky was brighter, the ring of wild hills all
around was still dark, and the hanging woods looked dark and dreadful,
and the strange rocks were as grey as ever; and when I looked down on
them from the great mound, sitting on the stone, I saw all their amazing
circles and rounds within rounds, and I had to sit quite still and watch
them as they began to turn about me, and each stone danced in its place,
and they seemed to go round and round in a great whirl, as if one were
in the middle of all the stars and heard them rushing through the air. So I went down among the rocks to dance with them and to sing
extraordinary songs; and I went down through the other thicket, and
drank from the bright stream in the close and secret valley, putting my
lips down to the bubbling water; and then I went on till I came to the
deep, brimming well among the glittering moss, and I sat down. I looked
before me into the secret darkness of the valley, and behind me was the
great high wall of grass, and all around me there were the hanging woods
that made the valley such a secret place. I knew there was nobody here
at all besides myself, and that no one could see me. So I took off my
boots and stockings, and let my feet down into the water, saying the
words that I knew. And it was not cold at all, as I expected, but warm
and very pleasant, and when my feet were in it I felt as if they were in
silk, or as if the nymph were kissing them. So when I had done, I said
the other words and made the signs, and then I dried my feet with a
towel I had brought on purpose, and put on my stockings and boots. Then
I climbed up the steep wall, and went into the place where there are the
hollows, and the two beautiful mounds, and the round ridges of land, and
all the strange shapes. I did not go down into the hollow this time,
but I turned at the end, and made out the figures quite plainly, as it
was lighter, and I had remembered the story I had quite forgotten
before, and in the story the two figures are called Adam and Eve, and
only those who know the story understand what they mean. So I went on
and on till I came to the secret wood which must not be described, and I
crept into it by the way I had found. And when I had gone about halfway
I stopped, and turned round, and got ready, and I bound the handkerchief
tightly round my eyes, and made quite sure that I could not see at all,
not a twig, nor the end of a leaf, nor the light of the sky, as it was
an old red silk handkerchief with large yellow spots, that went round
twice and covered my eyes, so that I could see nothing. Then I began to
go on, step by step, very slowly. My heart beat faster and faster, and
something rose in my throat that choked me and made me want to cry out,
but I shut my lips, and went on. Boughs caught in my hair as I went, and
great thorns tore me; but I went on to the end of the path. Then I
stopped, and held out my arms and bowed, and I went round the first
time, feeling with my hands, and there was nothing. I went round the
second time, feeling with my hands, and there was nothing. Then I went
round the third time, feeling with my hands, and the story was all true,
and I wished that the years were gone by, and that I had not so long a
time to wait before I was happy for ever and ever. Nurse must have been a prophet like those we read of in the Bible. Everything that she said began to come true, and since then other things
that she told me of have happened. That was how I came to know that her
stories were true and that I had not made up the secret myself out of my
own head. But there was another thing that happened that day. I went a
second time to the secret place. It was at the deep brimming well, and
when I was standing on the moss I bent over and looked in, and then I
knew who the white lady was that I had seen come out of the water in the
wood long ago when I was quite little. And I trembled all over, because
that told me other things. Then I remembered how sometime after I had
seen the white people in the wood, nurse asked me more about them, and I
told her all over again, and she listened, and said nothing for a long,
long time, and at last she said, 'You will see her again.' So I
understood what had happened and what was to happen. And I understood
about the nymphs; how I might meet them in all kinds of places, and they
would always help me, and I must always look for them, and find them in
all sorts of strange shapes and appearances. And without the nymphs I
could never have found the secret, and without them none of the other
things could happen. Nurse had told me all about them long ago, but she
called them by another name, and I did not know what she meant, or what
her tales of them were about, only that they were very queer. And there
were two kinds, the bright and the dark, and both were very lovely and
very wonderful, and some people saw only one kind, and some only the
other, but some saw them both. But usually the dark appeared first, and
the bright ones came afterwards, and there were extraordinary tales
about them. It was a day or two after I had come home from the secret
place that I first really knew the nymphs. Nurse had shown me how to
call them, and I had tried, but I did not know what she meant, and so I
thought it was all nonsense. But I made up my mind I would try again, so
I went to the wood where the pool was, where I saw the white people, and
I tried again. The dark nymph, Alanna, came, and she turned the pool of
water into a pool of fire....


EPILOGUE

'That's a very queer story,' said Cotgrave, handing back the green book
to the recluse, Ambrose. 'I see the drift of a good deal, but there are
many things that I do not grasp at all. On the last page, for example,
what does she mean by "nymphs"?' 'Well, I think there are references throughout the manuscript to certain
"processes" which have been handed down by tradition from age to age. Some of these processes are just beginning to come within the purview of
science, which has arrived at them--or rather at the steps which lead to
them--by quite different paths. I have interpreted the reference to
"nymphs" as a reference to one of these processes.' 'And you believe that there are such things?' 'Oh, I think so. Yes, I believe I could give you convincing evidence on
that point. I am afraid you have neglected the study of alchemy?