He stopped in dismay , for he suddenly realized that the expression on the girl 's face was one of terror -- not merely the startled alarm of a shy , childlike creature who had thought herself alone , but absolute terror . It was betrayed in her blanched and quivering lips and in the widely distended blue eyes that stared back into his with the expression of some trapped wild thing . It hurt him that any woman should look at him in such a fashion , at him who had always held womanhood in such reverence . `` Do n't look so frightened , '' he said gently , thinking only of calming her fear , and speaking as he would to a child . `` 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 XXXXX the production of marketable apples , that is plain to be seen .
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