Once or twice during the next few days Bathsheba saw Troy working in her hayflelds. He behaved in a pleasant，friendly manner towards her，and she began to lose her fear of him.

‘Cutting your hay is harder work than sword practice！’he told her one day，a smile lighting up his handsome face.

‘Is it？I've never seen sword practice，’she answered.

‘Ah！Would you like to？’asked Troy.

Bathsheba hesitated. She had heard wonderful stories from people who had watched soldiers practising，stories of shining metal flashing through the air.

‘I would like to see it，very much. ’

‘Well，I'll show you. I can get a sword by this evening. Will you…’and he bent over her，whispering in her ear.

‘Oh no！’said Bathsheba，blushing. ‘I couldn't. ’

‘Surely you could？ Nobody would know. ’

‘Well，if I came，Liddy would have to come with me. ’

‘I don't see why you want to bring her，’Troy said coldly.

‘Well then，I won't bring her—and I'll come. But only for a very short time. ’

So at eight o'clock that evening，Bathsheba found herself，in spite of her doubts，climbing the hill near her house and go－ing down the other side. Now she was in what seemed like a natural theatre，a deep，round hollow in the ground . It was completely hidden from her house and the path. This was the place where Troy had asked her to meet him.

And Troy，in his bright red uniform，was there.

‘Now，he said，producing his sword，which flashed in the evening sunlight，‘let me show you. One，two，three，four. Like this！A sword can kill a man in a second. ’

Bathsheba saw a kind of rainbow in the air，and gasped.

‘How cruel and murderous！’she cried.

‘Yes. Now I'll pretend to fight you. You are my enemy，but the only difference from a real fight is that I'll miss you each time. Stand in front of me，and don't move！’

Bathsheba was beginning to enjoy this. ‘I'll just test you first，’added Troy，‘to see whether you're brave enough. ’

The sword flashed in the air，from her left to right side. It seemed to go through her body. But there it was again in Troy's hand，perfectly clean and free from blood.

‘Oh！’she cried，frightened. ‘Have you killed me？No，yon haven't！How did you do it？’

‘I haven't touched you，’said Troy quietly. ‘Now， you aren't afraid，are you？I promise I won't hurt you，or even touch you. ’

‘I don't think I'm afraid. Is the sword very sharp？’

‘Oh no—just stand very still. Now！’

In a second，Bathsheba could no longer see the sky or the ground. The shining weapon flashed above，around and in 110 front of her，catching light from the low sun and whistling as it rushed through the air. Never had Sergeant Troy managed his sword better than today.

‘Your hair is a little untidy，’he said. ‘Allow me，’and before she could move or speak，a curl dropped to the ground.

‘You are very brave，for a woman！’he congratulated her.

‘It was because I didn't expect it. Now I'm afraid of you，I am，really！’

‘This time I won't even touch your hair. I'm going to kill that insect on your dress. Stand still！’

Not daring to tremble，she saw the point of his sword coming towards her heart，and，sure that this time she would die，closed her eyes. But when she opened them，she saw the insect，dead，on the point of the sword.

‘It's magic！’she cried. ‘And how could you cut off one of my curls with a sword that isn't sharp？’

‘It's sharper than any knife，’he said. ‘I had to lie to you about that，to give you the confidence to stand still. ’

Bathsheba's feelings were almost too much for her to control，and she sat down suddenly in the grass.

‘I could have died，’she whispered.

‘You were perfectly safe，’Troy told her. ‘My sword never makes a mistake. I must leave you now. I'll keep this to re－mind me of you. ’He bent to pick up the curl of hair，which he put carefully in his pocket，next to his heart. She was not strong enough to say or do anything. He came closer，bent 112 again，and a min............