I forgot all fear in my delight, and I played on and on in a sort of deepening rapture.

Gradually I became aware that the strange sounds about me were dying slowly away; fainter and fainter they grew--softer--farther--and finally ceased.

But the melody--that one distinct passage of notes I had followed out--remained with me, and I played it again and again with feverish eagerness lest it should escape me.

I had forgotten the presence of Heliobas.

But a touch on my shoulder roused me.