And to-night we came out to dance again, and it was only a little
while when you came, and then I saw father, and he brought me home.
But I was coming home myself as soon as the dancing was over."
"Kathleen," said Mrs. O'Brien, "listen to me now. Don't be frightened,
but listen. You've been away from us for a whole year. It was a year
ago this night that you danced with the Good People that first time.
All this year you have been with them there in the hill. If we had not
gone after you to-night, and if I had not known how to bring you back,
they would have taken you into the hill for another year, and you
might have stayed there, perhaps, as long as you lived."
"But, grandmother! A year! Why, you know it was yesterday!"
"Yesterday was a year ago," her grandmother said. "You can't
understand it now. Don't try. You must eat something now, and then you
must go to bed. To-morrow I can tell you about it better, and then
perhaps you can understand."
But Kathleen could not eat. Her going away had been so strange, her
coming back had been so wonderful, and what her grandmother had told
her had been so marvelous, that she could think of nothing else.
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