noon
Then she went up to him , and laid her hands upon his shoulders , and kissed him , and turned about without more ado and stepped into the boat ; then she sat down and stripped her arm of its sleeve , and drew forth a knife and let blood of her arm , and then arose and smeared stem and stern therewith , and then sat down with her face to the stern and sang : The red raven-wine now Hast thou drunk , stern and bow ; Wake then and awake And the Northward way take : The way of the Wenders forth over the flood , For the will of the Senders is blent with the blood . Then she abode a little , while Leonard stood staring on her speechless with grief and blinded with his bitter tears , till the boat began to move under her , and presently glided out of the little haven into the wide lake ; then she turned her face back unto him and waved her hand , and he knelt down and blessed her , weeping . And so she vanished away from before him . NOW it was scarce noon when she departed , and the dark night came upon her in the midst of the water ; and she fell asleep in the boat ere the night had grown very old , and woke up in the morning , not exceeding early , maybe about six o'clock ; then she looked ahead and thought presently to see the ill-favoured blotch of the Isle of Nothing on the bosom of the blue waters , whereas it was a fair and cloudless morning of latter May . Sure enough she saw land ahead , and it lay low down on the water , but she deemed from the first that it was green of hue , and as she neared it she saw that it was verily as green as emerald . Thereat she was a little troubled , because she thought that mayhappen the Sending Boat had gone astray , and that if the wight thereof were not wending the old road , maybe he was not making for the old haven . For now indeed she told herself right out that her will was to go back again to the House under the Wood , and see what might betide there , and if she and the wood-mother together might not overcome the witch .