He got up and slowly walked onward until near sunset, thinking of nothing but the beautiful people of the Mirage.

He had left the barren salt plain behind by now; the earth was covered with yellow grass, and he found and ate some sweet roots and berries.
Then feeling very tired, he stretched himself out on his back and began to wonder if what he had seen was nothing but a dream.

Yes, it was surely a dream, but then--in his life dreams and realities were so mixed--how was he always to know one from the other?
Which was most strange, the Mirage that glittered and quivered round him and flew mockingly before him, or the people of the Mirage he had seen?
If you are lying quite still with your eyes shut and some one comes softly up and stands over you, somehow you know it, and open your eyes to see who it is.

Just in that way Martin knew that some one had come and was standing over him.

Still he kept his eyes shut, feeling sure that it was one of those bright and beautiful beings he had lately seen, perhaps the Queen herself, and that the sight of her shining countenance would dazzle his eyes.