`` I will not hurt you . You are safe , quite safe . '' In his eagerness to reassure her he took an unconscious step forward . Instantly she turned , and , without a sound , fled across the orchard , through a gap in the northern fence and along what seemed to be a lane bordering the fir wood beyond and arched over with wild cherry trees misty white in the gathering gloom . Before Eric could recover his wits she had vanished from his sight among the firs . He stooped and picked up the violin bow , feeling slightly foolish and very much annoyed . `` Well , this is a most mysterious thing , '' he said , somewhat impatiently . `` Am I bewitched ? Who was she ? WHAT was she ? Can it be possible that she is a Lindsay girl ? And why in the name of all that 's provoking should she be so frightened at the mere sight of me ? I have never thought I was a particularly hideous person , but certainly this adventure has not increased my vanity to any perceptible extent . Perhaps I have wandered into an enchanted orchard , and been outwardly transformed into an ogre . Now that I have come to think of it , there is something quite uncanny about the place . Anything might happen here . It is no common orchard for the production of marketable apples , that is plain to be seen . No , it 's a most unwholesome locality ; and the sooner I make my escape from it the better . '' He glanced about it with a whimsical smile . The light was fading rapidly and the orchard was full of soft , creeping shadows and silences .
It seemed to wink sleepy eyes of impish enjoyment XXXXX his perplexity .
Before across along among at beyond from in into with