I dreamed of the country that night, of the orchard, the sky,
The voice that had mocked coming after and over and under.
But at last--in a day or two namely--Eleven and I
Were very fast friends, and to him I confided the wonder.
He said that was Echo. 'Was Echo a wise kind of bee
That had learned how to laugh: could it laugh in one's ear and then fly
And laugh again yonder?' 'No; Echo'--he whispered it low--
'Was a woman, they said, but a woman whom no one could see
And no one could find; and he did not believe it, not he,
But he could not get near for the river that held us asunder.
Yet I that had money--a shilling, a whole silver shilling--
We might cross if I thought I would spend it.' 'Oh yes, I was willing'--
And we ran hand in hand, we ran down to the ferry, the ferry,
And we heard how she mocked at the folk with a voice clear and merry
When they called for the ferry; but oh! she was very--was very
Swift-footed. She spoke and was gone; and when Oliver cried,
'Hie over! hie over! you man of the ferry--the ferry!'
By the still water's side she was heard far and wide--she replied
And she mocked in her voice sweet and merry, 'You man of the ferry,
You man of--you man of the ferry!'
'Hie over!' he shouted.
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