"It certainly must be a spectre or a servant of the Ice Maiden,"
thought Rudy, who had heard such things talked about when he was a
little boy, and had stayed all night on the mountain with the guides.
thought Rudy, who had heard such things talked about when he was a
little boy, and had stayed all night on the mountain with the guides.
Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen
None could climb like
he, and he clung as firmly to the edges of the rocks as a limpet. He
had strong muscular power, as could be seen when he leapt from rock to
rock. He had learnt this first from the cat, and more lately from
the chamois. Rudy was considered the best guide over the mountains;
every one had great confidence in him. He might have made a great deal
of money as guide. His uncle had also taught him the trade of a
cooper; but he had no inclination for either; his delight was in
chamois-hunting, which also brought him plenty of money. Rudy would be
a very good match, as people said, if he would not look above his
own station. He was also such a famous partner in dancing, that the
girls often dreamt about him, and one and another thought of him
even when awake.
"He kissed me in the dance," said Annette, the schoolmaster's
daughter, to her dearest friend; but she ought not to have told
this, even to her dearest friend. It is not easy to keep such secrets;
they are like sand in a sieve; they slip out. It was therefore soon
known that Rudy, so brave and so good as he was, had kissed some one
while dancing, and yet he had never kissed her who was dearest to him.
"Ah, ah," said an old hunter, "he has kissed Annette, has he? he
has begun with A, and I suppose he will kiss through the whole
alphabet. "
But a kiss in the dance was all the busy tongues could accuse
him of. He certainly had kissed Annette, but she was not the flower of
his heart.
Down in the valley, near Bex, among the great walnut-trees, by the
side of a little rushing mountain-stream, lived a rich miller. His
dwelling-house was a large building, three storeys high, with little
turrets. The roof was covered with chips, bound together with tin
plates, that glittered in sunshine and in the moonlight. The largest
of the turrets had a weather-cock, representing an apple pierced by
a glittering arrow, in memory of William Tell. The mill was a neat and
well-ordered place, that allowed itself to be sketched and written
about; but the miller's daughter did not permit any to sketch or write
about her. So, at least, Rudy would have said, for her image was
pictured in his heart; her eyes shone in it so brightly, that quite
a flame had been kindled there; and, like all other fires, it had
burst forth so suddenly, that the miller's daughter, the beautiful
Babette, was quite unaware of it. Rudy had never spoken a word to
her on the subject. The miller was rich, and, on that account, Babette
stood very high, and was rather difficult to aspire to. But said
Rudy to himself, "Nothing is too high for a man to reach: he must
climb with confidence in himself, and he will not fail. " He had learnt
this lesson in his youthful home.
It happened once that Rudy had some business to settle at Bex.
It was a long journey at that time, for the railway had not been
opened. From the glaciers of the Rhone, at the foot of the Simplon,
between its ever-changing mountain summits, stretches the valley of
the canton Valais. Through it runs the noble river of the Rhone, which
often overflows its banks, covering fields and highways, and
destroying everything in its course. Near the towns of Sion and St.
Maurice, the valley takes a turn, and bends like an elbow, and
behind St. Maurice becomes so narrow that there is only space enough
for the bed of the river and a narrow carriage-road. An old tower
stands here, as if it were guardian to the canton Valais, which ends
at this point; and from it we can look across the stone bridge to
the toll-house on the other side, where the canton Vaud commences. Not
far from this spot stands the town of Bex, and at every step can be
seen an increase of fruitfulness and verdure. It is like entering a
grove of chestnut and walnut-trees. Here and there the cypress and
pomegranate blossoms peep forth; and it is almost as warm as an
Italian climate. Rudy arrived at Bex, and soon finished the business
which had brought him there, and then walked about the town; but not
even the miller's boy could be seen, nor any one belonging to the
mill, not to mention Babette. This did not please him at all.
Evening came on. The air was filled with the perfume of the wild thyme
and the blossoms of the lime-trees, and the green woods on the
mountains seemed to be covered with a shining veil, blue as the sky.
Over everything reigned a stillness, not of sleep or of death, but
as if Nature were holding her breath, that her image might be
photographed on the blue vault of heaven. Here and there, amidst the
trees of the silent valley, stood poles which supported the wires of
the electric telegraph. Against one of these poles leaned an object so
motionless that it might have been mistaken for the trunk of a tree;
but it was Rudy, standing there as still as at that moment was
everything around him. He was not asleep, neither was he dead; but
just as the various events in the world--matters of momentous
importance to individuals--were flying through the telegraph wires,
without the quiver of a wire or the slightest tone, so, through the
mind of Rudy, thoughts of overwhelming importance were passing,
without an outward sign of emotion. The happiness of his future life
depended upon the decision of his present reflections. His eyes were
fixed on one spot in the distance--a light that twinkled through the
foliage from the parlor of the miller's house, where Babette dwelt.
Rudy stood so still, that it might have been supposed he was
watching for a chamois; but he was in reality like a chamois, who will
stand for a moment, looking as if it were chiselled out of the rock,
and then, if only a stone rolled by, would suddenly bound forward with
a spring, far away from the hunter. And so with Rudy: a sudden roll of
his thoughts roused him from his stillness, and made him bound forward
with determination to act.
"Never despair! " cried he. "A visit to the mill, to say good
evening to the miller, and good evening to little Babette, can do no
harm. No one ever fails who has confidence in himself. If I am to be
Babette's husband, I must see her some time or other. "
Then Rudy laughed joyously, and took courage to go to the mill. He
knew what he wanted; he wanted to marry Babette. The clear water of
the river rolled over its yellow bed, and willows and lime-trees
were reflected in it, as Rudy stepped along the path to the miller's
house. But, as the children sing--
"There was no one at home in the house,
Only a kitten at play. "
The cat standing on the steps put up its back and cried "mew. " But
Rudy had no inclination for this sort of conversation; he passed on,
and knocked at the door. No one heard him, no one opened the door.
"Mew," said the cat again; and had Rudy been still a child, he would
have understood this language, and known that the cat wished to tell
him there was no one at home. So he was obliged to go to the mill
and make inquiries, and there he heard that the miller had gone on a
journey to Interlachen, and taken Babette with him, to the great
shooting festival, which began that morning, and would continue for
eight days, and that people from all the German settlements would be
there.
Poor Rudy! we may well say. It was not a fortunate day for his
visit to Bex. He had just to return the way he came, through St.
Maurice and Sion, to his home in the valley. But he did not despair.
When the sun rose the next morning, his good spirits had returned;
indeed he had never really lost them. "Babette is at Interlachen,"
said Rudy to himself, "many days' journey from here. It is certainly a
long way for any one who takes the high-road, but not so far if he
takes a short cut across the mountain, and that just suits a
chamois-hunter. I have been that way before, for it leads to the
home of my childhood, where, as a little boy, I lived with my
grandfather. And there are shooting matches at Interlachen. I will go,
and try to stand first in the match. Babette will be there, and I
shall be able to make her acquaintance. "
Carrying his light knapsack, which contained his Sunday clothes,
on his back, and with his musket and his game-bag over his shoulder,
Rudy started to take the shortest way across the mountain. Still it
was a great distance. The shooting matches were to commence on that
day, and to continue for a whole week. He had been told also that
the miller and Babette would remain that time with some relatives at
Interlachen. So over the Gemmi Rudy climbed bravely, and determined to
descend the side of the Grindelwald. Bright and joyous were his
feelings as he stepped lightly onwards, inhaling the invigorating
mountain air. The valley sunk as he ascended, the circle of the
horizon expanded. One snow-capped peak after another rose before
him, till the whole of the glittering Alpine range became visible.
Rudy knew each ice-clad peak, and he continued his course towards
the Schreckhorn, with its white powdered stone finger raised high in
the air. At length he had crossed the highest ridges, and before him
lay the green pasture lands sloping down towards the valley, which was
once his home. The buoyancy of the air made his heart light. Hill
and valley were blooming in luxuriant beauty, and his thoughts were
youthful dreams, in which old age or death were out of the question.
Life, power, and enjoyment were in the future, and he felt free and
light as a bird. And the swallows flew round him, as in the days of
his childhood, singing "We and you--you and we. " All was overflowing
with joy. Beneath him lay the meadows, covered with velvety green,
with the murmuring river flowing through them, and dotted here and
there were small wooden houses. He could see the edges of the
glaciers, looking like green glass against the soiled snow, and the
deep chasms beneath the loftiest glacier. The church bells were
ringing, as if to welcome him to his home with their sweet tones.
His heart beat quickly, and for a moment he seemed to have
foregotten Babette, so full were his thoughts of old recollections. He
was, in imagination, once more wandering on the road where, when a
little boy, he, with other children, came to sell their curiously
carved toy houses. Yonder, behind the fir-trees, still stood his
grandfather's house, his mother's father, but strangers dwelt in it
now. Children came running to him, as he had once done, and wished
to sell their wares. One of them offered him an Alpine rose. Rudy took
the rose as a good omen, and thought of Babette. He quickly crossed
the bridge where the two rivers flow into each other. Here he found
a walk over-shadowed with large walnut-trees, and their thick
foliage formed a pleasant shade. Very soon he perceived in the
distance, waving flags, on which glittered a white cross on a red
ground--the standard of the Danes as well as of the Swiss--and
before him lay Interlachen.
"It is really a splendid town, like none other that I have ever
seen," said Rudy to himself. It was indeed a Swiss town in its holiday
dress. Not like the many other towns, crowded with heavy stone houses,
stiff and foreign looking. No; here it seemed as if the wooden
houses on the hills had run into the valley, and placed themselves
in rows and ranks by the side of the clear river, which rushes like an
arrow in its course. The streets were rather irregular, it is true,
but still this added to their picturesque appearance. There was one
street which Rudy thought the prettiest of them all; it had been built
since he had visited the town when a little boy. It seemed to him as
if all the neatest and most curiously carved toy houses which his
grandfather once kept in the large cupboard at home, had been
brought out and placed in this spot, and that they had increased in
size since then, as the old chestnut trees had done. The houses were
called hotels; the woodwork on the windows and balconies was curiously
carved. The roofs were gayly painted, and before each house was a
flower garden, which separated it from the macadamized high-road.
These houses all stood on the same side of the road, so that the
fresh, green meadows, in which were cows grazing, with bells on
their necks, were not hidden. The sound of these bells is often
heard amidst Alpine scenery. These meadows were encircled by lofty
hills, which receded a little in the centre, so that the most
beautifully formed of Swiss mountains--the snow-crowned Jungfrau--could
be distinctly seen glittering in the distance. A number of
elegantly dressed gentlemen and ladies from foreign lands, and
crowds of country people from the neighboring cantons, were
assembled in the town. Each marksman wore the number of hits he had
made twisted in a garland round his hat. Here were music and singing
of all descriptions: hand-organs, trumpets, shouting, and noise. The
houses and bridges were adorned with verses and inscriptions. Flags
and banners were waving. Shot after shot was fired, which was the best
music to Rudy's ears. And amidst all this excitement he quite forgot
Babette, on whose account only he had come. The shooters were
thronging round the target, and Rudy was soon amongst them. But when
he took his turn to fire, he proved himself the best shot, for he
always struck the bull's-eye.
"Who may that young stranger be? " was the inquiry on all sides.
"He speaks French as it is spoken in the Swiss cantons. "
"And makes himself understood very well when he speaks German,"
said some.
"He lived here, when a child, with his grandfather, in a house
on the road to Grindelwald," remarked one of the sportsmen.
And full of life was this young stranger; his eyes sparkled, his
glance was steady, and his arm sure, therefore he always hit the mark.
Good fortune gives courage, and Rudy was always courageous. He soon
had a circle of friends gathered round him. Every one noticed him, and
did him homage. Babette had quite vanished from his thoughts, when
he was struck on the shoulder by a heavy hand, and a deep voice said
to him in French, "You are from the canton Valais. "
Rudy turned round, and beheld a man with a ruddy, pleasant face,
and a stout figure. It was the rich miller from Bex. His broad, portly
person, hid the slender, lovely Babette; but she came forward and
glanced at him with her bright, dark eyes. The rich miller was very
much flattered at the thought that the young man, who was acknowledged
to be the best shot, and was so praised by every one, should be from
his own canton. Now was Rudy really fortunate: he had travelled all
this way to this place, and those he had forgotten were now come to
seek him. When country people go far from home, they often meet with
those they know, and improve their acquaintance. Rudy, by his
shooting, had gained the first place in the shooting-match, just as
the miller at home at Bex stood first, because of his money and his
mill. So the two men shook hands, which they had never done before.
Babette, too, held out her hand to Rudy frankly, and he pressed it
in his, and looked at her so earnestly, that she blushed deeply. The
miller talked of the long journey they had travelled, and of the
many towns they had seen. It was his opinion that he had really made
as great a journey as if he had travelled in a steamship, a railway
carriage, or a post-chaise.
"I came by a much shorter way," said Rudy; "I came over the
mountains. There is no road so high that a man may not venture upon
it. "
"Ah, yes; and break your neck," said the miller; "and you look
like one who will break his neck some day, you are so daring. "
"Oh, nothing ever happens to a man if he has confidence in
himself," replied Rudy.
The miller's relations at Interlachen, with whom the miller and
Babette were staying, invited Rudy to visit them, when they found he
came from the same canton as the miller. It was a most pleasant visit.
Good fortune seemed to follow him, as it does those who think and
act for themselves, and who remember the proverb, "Nuts are given to
us, but they are not cracked for us. " And Rudy was treated by the
miller's relations almost like one of the family, and glasses of
wine were poured out to drink to the welfare of the best shooter.
Babette clinked glasses with Rudy, and he returned thanks for the
toast. In the evening they all took a delightful walk under the
walnut-trees, in front of the stately hotels; there were so many
people, and such crowding, that Rudy was obliged to offer his arm to
Babette. Then he told her how happy it made him to meet people from
the canton Vaud,--for Vaud and Valais were neighboring cantons. He
spoke of this pleasure so heartily that Babette could not resist
giving his arm a slight squeeze; and so they walked on together, and
talked and chatted like old acquaintances. Rudy felt inclined to laugh
sometimes at the absurd dress and walk of the foreign ladies; but
Babette did not wish to make fun of them, for she knew there must be
some good, excellent people amongst them; she, herself, had a
godmother, who was a high-born English lady. Eighteen years before,
when Babette was christened, this lady was staying at Bex, and she
stood godmother for her, and gave her the valuable brooch she now wore
in her bosom.
Her godmother had twice written to her, and this year she was
expected to visit Interlachen with her two daughters; "but they are
old-maids," added Babette, who was only eighteen: "they are nearly
thirty. " Her sweet little mouth was never still a moment, and all that
she said sounded in Rudy's ears as matters of the greatest importance,
and at last he told her what he was longing to tell. How often he
had been at Bex, how well he knew the mill, and how often he had
seen Babette, when most likely she had not noticed him; and lastly,
that full of many thoughts which he could not tell her, he had been to
the mill on the evening when she and her father has started on their
long journey, but not too far for him to find a way to overtake
them. He told her all this, and a great deal more; he told her how
much he could endure for her; and that it was to see her, and not
the shooting-match, which had brought him to Interlachen. Babette
became quite silent after hearing all this; it was almost too much,
and it troubled her.
And while they thus wandered on, the sun sunk behind the lofty
mountains. The Jungfrau stood out in brightness and splendor, as a
back-ground to the green woods of the surrounding hills. Every one
stood still to look at the beautiful sight, Rudy and Babette among
them.
"Nothing can be more beautiful than this," said Babette.
"Nothing! " replied Rudy, looking at Babette.
"To-morrow I must return home," remarked Rudy a few minutes
afterwards.
"Come and visit us at Bex," whispered Babette; "my father will
be pleased to see you. "
V. ON THE WAY HOME
Oh, what a number of things Rudy had to carry over the
mountains, when he set out to return home! He had three silver cups,
two handsome pistols, and a silver coffee-pot. This latter would be
useful when he began housekeeping. But all these were not the heaviest
weight he had to bear; something mightier and more important he
carried with him in his heart, over the high mountains, as he
journeyed homeward.
The weather was dismally dark, and inclined to rain; the clouds
hung low, like a mourning veil on the tops of the mountains, and
shrouded their glittering peaks. In the woods could be heard the sound
of the axe and the heavy fall of the trunks of the trees, as they
rolled down the slopes of the mountains. When seen from the heights,
the trunks of these trees looked like slender stems; but on a nearer
inspection they were found to be large and strong enough for the masts
of a ship. The river murmured monotonously, the wind whistled, and the
clouds sailed along hurriedly.
Suddenly there appeared, close by Rudy's side, a young maiden;
he had not noticed her till she came quite near to him. She was also
going to ascend the mountain. The maiden's eyes shone with an
unearthly power, which obliged you to look into them; they were
strange eyes,--clear, deep, and unfathomable.
"Hast thou a lover? " asked Rudy; all his thoughts were naturally
on love just then.
"I have none," answered the maiden, with a laugh; it was as if she
had not spoken the truth.
"Do not let us go such a long way round," said she. "We must
keep to the left; it is much shorter. "
"Ah, yes," he replied; "and fall into some crevasse. Do you
pretend to be a guide, and not know the road better than that? "
"I know every step of the way," said she; "and my thoughts are
collected, while yours are down in the valley yonder. We should
think of the Ice Maiden while we are up here; men say she is not
kind to their race. "
"I fear her not," said Rudy. "She could not keep me when I was a
child; I will not give myself up to her now I am a man. "
Darkness came on, the rain fell, and then it began to snow, and
the whiteness dazzled the eyes.
"Give me your hand," said the maiden; "I will help you to
mount. " And he felt the touch of her icy fingers.
"You help me," cried Rudy; "I do not yet require a woman to help
me to climb. " And he stepped quickly forwards away from her.
The drifting snow-shower fell like a veil between them, the wind
whistled, and behind him he could hear the maiden laughing and
singing, and the sound was most strange to hear.
"It certainly must be a spectre or a servant of the Ice Maiden,"
thought Rudy, who had heard such things talked about when he was a
little boy, and had stayed all night on the mountain with the guides.
The snow fell thicker than ever, the clouds lay beneath him; he
looked back, there was no one to be seen, but he heard sounds of
mocking laughter, which were not those of a human voice.
When Rudy at length reached the highest part of the mountain,
where the path led down to the valley of the Rhone, the snow had
ceased, and in the clear heavens he saw two bright stars twinkling.
They reminded him of Babette and of himself, and of his future
happiness, and his heart glowed at the thought.
VI. THE VISIT TO THE MILL
"What beautiful things you have brought home! " said his old
foster-mother; and her strange-looking eagle-eyes sparkled, while
she wriggled and twisted her skinny neck more quickly and strangely
than ever. "You have brought good luck with you, Rudy. I must give you
a kiss, my dear boy. "
Rudy allowed himself to be kissed; but it could be seen by his
countenance that he only endured the infliction as a homely duty.
"How handsome you are, Rudy! " said the old woman.
"Don't flatter," said Rudy, with a laugh; but still he was
pleased.
"I must say once more," said the old woman, "that you are very
lucky. "
"Well, in that I believe you are right," said he, as he thought of
Babette. Never had he felt such a longing for that deep valley as he
now had. "They must have returned home by this time," said he to
himself, "it is already two days over the time which they fixed
upon. I must go to Bex. "
So Rudy set out to go to Bex; and when he arrived there, he
found the miller and his daughter at home. They received him kindly,
and brought him many greetings from their friends at Interlachen.
Babette did not say much. She seemed to have become quite silent;
but her eyes spoke, and that was quite enough for Rudy. The miller had
generally a great deal to talk about, and seemed to expect that
every one should listen to his jokes, and laugh at them; for was not
he the rich miller? But now he was more inclined to hear Rudy's
adventures while hunting and travelling, and to listen to his
descriptions of the difficulties the chamois-hunter has to overcome on
the mountain-tops, or of the dangerous snow-drifts which the wind
and weather cause to cling to the edges of the rocks, or to lie in the
form of a frail bridge over the abyss beneath. The eyes of the brave
Rudy sparkled as he described the life of a hunter, or spoke of the
cunning of the chamois and their wonderful leaps; also of the powerful
fohn and the rolling avalanche. He noticed that the more he described,
the more interested the miller became, especially when he spoke of the
fierce vulture and of the royal eagle. Not far from Bex, in the canton
Valais, was an eagle's nest, more curiously built under a high,
over-hanging rock. In this nest was a young eagle; but who would
venture to take it? A young Englishman had offered Rudy a whole
handful of gold, if he would bring him the young eagle alive.
"There is a limit to everything," was Rudy's reply. "The eagle
could not be taken; it would be folly to attempt it. "
The wine was passed round freely, and the conversation kept up
pleasantly; but the evening seemed too short for Rudy, although it was
midnight when he left the miller's house, after this his first visit.
While the lights in the windows of the miller's house still
twinkled through the green foliage, out through the open skylight came
the parlor-cat on to the roof, and along the water-pipe walked the
kitchen-cat to meet her.
"What is the news at the mill? " asked the parlor-cat. "Here in the
house there is secret love-making going on, which the father knows
nothing about. Rudy and Babette have been treading on each other's
paws, under the table, all the evening. They trod on my tail twice,
but I did not mew; that would have attracted notice. "
"Well, I should have mewed," said the kitchen-cat.
"What might suit the kitchen would not suit the parlor," said
the other. "I am quite curious to know what the miller will say when
he finds out this engagement. "
Yes, indeed; what would the miller say? Rudy himself was anxious
to know that; but to wait till the miller heard of it from others
was out of the question. Therefore, not many days after this visit, he
was riding in the omnibus that runs between the two cantons, Valais
and Vaud. These cantons are separated by the Rhone, over which is a
bridge that unites them. Rudy, as usual, had plenty of courage, and
indulged in pleasant thoughts of the favorable answer he should
receive that evening. And when the omnibus returned, Rudy was again
seated in it, going homewards; and at the same time the parlor-cat
at the miller's house ran out quickly, crying,--
"Here, you from the kitchen, what do you think? The miller knows
all now. Everything has come to a delightful end. Rudy came here
this evening, and he and Babette had much whispering and secret
conversation together. They stood in the path near the miller's
room. I lay at their feet; but they had no eyes or thoughts for me.
"'I will go to your father at once,' said he; 'it is the most
honorable way. '
"'Shall I go with you? ' asked Babette; 'it will give you courage. '
"'I have plenty of courage,' said Rudy; 'but if you are with me,
he must be friendly, whether he says Yes or No. '
"So they turned to go in, and Rudy trod heavily on my tail; he
certainly is very clumsy. I mewed; but neither he nor Babette had
any ears for me. They opened the door, and entered together. I was
before them, and jumped on the back of a chair. I hardly know what
Rudy said; but the miller flew into a rage, and threatened to kick him
out of the house. He told him he might go to the mountains, and look
after the chamois, but not after our little Babette. "
"And what did they say? Did they speak? " asked the kitchen-cat.
"What did they say! why, all that people generally do say when
they go a-wooing--'I love her, and she loves me; and when there is
milk in the can for one, there is milk in the can for two. '
"'But she is so far above you,' said the miller; 'she has heaps of
gold, as you know. You should not attempt to reach her. '
"'There is nothing so high that a man cannot reach, if he will,'
answered Rudy; for he is a brave youth.
"'Yet you could not reach the young eagle,' said the miller,
laughing. 'Babette is higher than the eagle's nest. '
"'I will have them both,' said Rudy.
"'Very well; I will give her to you when you bring me the young
eaglet alive,' said the miller; and he laughed till the tears stood in
his eyes. 'But now I thank you for this visit, Rudy; and if you come
to-morrow, you will find nobody at home. Good-bye, Rudy. '
"Babette also wished him farewell; but her voice sounded as
mournful as the mew of a little kitten that has lost its mother.
"'A promise is a promise between man and man,' said Rudy. 'Do
not weep, Babette; I shall bring the young eagle. '
"'You will break your neck, I hope,' said the miller, 'and we
shall be relieved from your company. '
"I call that kicking him out of the house," said the parlor-cat.
"And now Rudy is gone, and Babette sits and weeps, while the miller
sings German songs that he learnt on his journey; but I do not trouble
myself on the matter,--it would be of no use. "
"Yet, for all that, it is a very strange affair," said the
kitchen-cat.
VII. THE EAGLE'S NEST
From the mountain-path came a joyous sound of some person
whistling, and it betokened good humor and undaunted courage. It was
Rudy, going to meet his friend Vesinaud. "You must come and help,"
said he. "I want to carry off the young eaglet from the top of the
rock. We will take young Ragli with us. "
"Had you not better first try to take down the moon? That would be
quite as easy a task," said Vesinaud. "You seem to be in good
spirits. "
"Yes, indeed I am. I am thinking of my wedding. But to be serious,
I will tell you all about it, and how I am situated. "
Then he explained to Vesinaud and Ragli what he wished to do,
and why.
"You are a daring fellow," said they; "but it is no use; you
will break your neck. "
"No one falls, unless he is afraid," said Rudy.
So at midnight they set out, carrying with them poles, ladders,
and ropes. The road lay amidst brushwood and underwood, over rolling
stones, always upwards higher and higher in the dark night. Waters
roared beneath them, or fell in cascades from above. Humid clouds were
driving through the air as the hunters reached the precipitous ledge
of the rock. It was even darker here, for the sides of the rocks
almost met, and the light penetrated only through a small opening at
the top. At a little distance from the edge could be heard the sound
of the roaring, foaming waters in the yawning abyss beneath them.
The three seated themselves on a stone, to await in stillness the dawn
of day, when the parent eagle would fly out, as it would be
necessary to shoot the old bird before they could think of gaining
possession of the young one. Rudy sat motionless, as if he had been
part of the stone on which he sat. He held his gun ready to fire, with
his eyes fixed steadily on the highest point of the cliff, where the
eagle's nest lay concealed beneath the overhanging rock.
The three hunters had a long time to wait. At last they heard a
rustling, whirring sound above them, and a large hovering object
darkened the air. Two guns were ready to aim at the dark body of the
eagle as it rose from the nest. Then a shot was fired; for an
instant the bird fluttered its wide-spreading wings, and seemed as
if it would fill up the whole of the chasm, and drag down the
hunters in its fall. But it was not so; the eagle sunk gradually
into the abyss beneath, and the branches of trees and bushes were
broken by its weight. Then the hunters roused themselves: three of the
longest ladders were brought and bound together; the topmost ring of
these ladders would just reach the edge of the rock which hung over
the abyss, but no farther. The point beneath which the eagle's nest
lay sheltered was much higher, and the sides of the rock were as
smooth as a wall. After consulting together, they determined to bind
together two more ladders, and to hoist them over the cavity, and so
form a communication with the three beneath them, by binding the upper
ones to the lower. With great difficulty they contrived to drag the
two ladders over the rock, and there they hung for some moments,
swaying over the abyss; but no sooner had they fastened them together,
than Rudy placed his foot on the lowest step.
It was a bitterly cold morning; clouds of mist were rising from
beneath, and Rudy stood on the lower step of the ladder as a fly rests
on a piece of swinging straw, which a bird may have dropped from the
edge of the nest it was building on some tall factory chimney; but the
fly could fly away if the straw were shaken, Rudy could only break his
neck. The wind whistled around him, and beneath him the waters of
the abyss, swelled by the thawing of the glaciers, those palaces of
the Ice Maiden, foamed and roared in their rapid course. When Rudy
began to ascend, the ladder trembled like the web of the spider,
when it draws out the long, delicate threads; but as soon as he
reached the fourth of the ladders, which had been bound together, he
felt more confidence,--he knew that they had been fastened securely by
skilful hands. The fifth ladder, that appeared to reach the nest,
was supported by the sides of the rock, yet it swung to and fro, and
flapped about like a slender reed, and as if it had been bound by
fishing lines. It seemed a most dangerous undertaking to ascend it,
but Rudy knew how to climb; he had learnt that from the cat, and he
had no fear. He did not observe Vertigo, who stood in the air behind
him, trying to lay hold of him with his outstretched polypous arms.
When at length he stood on the topmost step of the ladder, he
found that he was still some distance below the nest, and not even
able to see into it. Only by using his hands and climbing could he
possibly reach it. He tried the strength of the stunted trees, and the
thick underwood upon which the nest rested, and of which it was
formed, and finding they would support his weight, he grasped them
firmly, and swung himself up from the ladder till his head and
breast were above the nest, and then what an overpowering stench
came from it, for in it lay the putrid remains of lambs, chamois,
and birds. Vertigo, although he could not reach him, blew the
poisonous vapor in his face, to make him giddy and faint; and beneath,
in the dark, yawning deep, on the rushing waters, sat the Ice
Maiden, with her long, pale, green hair falling around her, and her
death-like eyes fixed upon him, like the two barrels of a gun. "I have
thee now," she cried.
In a corner of the eagle's nest sat the young eaglet, a large
and powerful bird, though still unable to fly. Rudy fixed his eyes
upon it, held on by one hand with all his strength, and with the other
threw a noose round the young eagle. The string slipped to its legs.
Rudy tightened it, and thus secured the bird alive. Then flinging
the sling over his shoulder, so that the creature hung a good way down
behind him, he prepared to descend with the help of a rope, and his
foot soon touched safely the highest step of the ladder. Then Rudy,
remembering his early lesson in climbing, "Hold fast, and do not
fear," descended carefully down the ladders, and at last stood
safely on the ground with the young living eaglet, where he was
received with loud shouts of joy and congratulations.
VIII. WHAT FRESH NEWS THE PARLOR-CAT HAD TO TELL
"There is what you asked for," said Rudy, as he entered the
miller's house at Bex, and placed on the floor a large basket. He
removed the lid as he spoke, and a pair of yellow eyes, encircled by a
black ring, stared forth with a wild, fiery glance, that seemed
ready to burn and destroy all that came in its way. Its short,
strong beak was open, ready to bite, and on its red throat were
short feathers, like stubble.
"The young eaglet! " cried the miller.
Babette screamed, and started back, while her eyes wandered from
Rudy to the bird in astonishment.
"You are not to be discouraged by difficulties, I see," said the
miller.
"And you will keep your word," replied Rudy. "Each has his own
characteristic, whether it is honor or courage. "
"But how is it you did not break your neck? " asked the miller.
"Because I held fast," answered Rudy; "and I mean to hold fast
to Babette. "
"You must get her first," said the miller, laughing; and Babette
thought this a very good sign.
"We must take the bird out of the basket," said she. "It is
getting into a rage; how its eyes glare. How did you manage to conquer
it? "
Then Rudy had to describe his adventure, and the miller's eyes
opened wide as he listened.
"With your courage and your good fortune you might win three
wives," said the miller.
"Oh, thank you," cried Rudy.
"But you have not won Babette yet," said the miller, slapping
the young Alpine hunter on the shoulder playfully.
"Have you heard the fresh news at the mill? " asked the
parlor-cat of the kitchen-cat. "Rudy has brought us the young eagle,
and he is to take Babette in exchange. They kissed each other in the
presence of the old man, which is as good as an engagement. He was
quite civil about it; drew in his claws, and took his afternoon nap,
so that the two were left to sit and wag their tails as much as they
pleased. They have so much to talk about that it will not be
finished till Christmas. " Neither was it finished till Christmas.
The wind whirled the faded, fallen leaves; the snow drifted in the
valleys, as well as upon the mountains, and the Ice Maiden sat in
the stately palace which, in winter time, she generally occupied.
The perpendicular rocks were covered with slippery ice, and where in
summer the stream from the rocks had left a watery veil, icicles large
and heavy hung from the trees, while the snow-powdered fir-trees
were decorated with fantastic garlands of crystal. The Ice Maiden rode
on the howling wind across the deep valleys, the country, as far as
Bex, was covered with a carpet of snow, so that the Ice Maiden could
follow Rudy, and see him, when he visited the mill; and while in the
room at the miller's house, where he was accustomed to spend so much
of his time with Babette. The wedding was to take place in the
following summer, and they heard enough of it, for so many of their
friends spoke of the matter.
Then came sunshine to the mill. The beautiful Alpine roses
bloomed, and joyous, laughing Babette, was like the early spring,
which makes all the birds sing of summer time and bridal days.
"How those two do sit and chatter together," said the
parlor-cat; "I have had enough of their mewing. "
IX. THE ICE MAIDEN
The walnut and chestnut trees, which extend from the bridge of St.
Maurice, by the river Rhone, to the shores of the lake of Geneva, were
already covered with the delicate green garlands of early spring, just
bursting into bloom, while the Rhone rushed wildly from its source
among the green glaciers which form the ice palace of the Ice
Maiden. She sometimes allows herself to be carried by the keen wind to
the lofty snow-fields, where she stretches herself in the sunshine
on the soft snowy-cushions. From thence she throws her far-seeing
glance into the deep valley beneath, where human beings are busily
moving about like ants on a stone in the sun. "Spirits of strength, as
the children of the sun call you," cried the Ice Maiden, "ye are but
worms! Let but a snow-ball roll, and you and your houses and your
towns are crushed and swept away. " And she raised her proud head,
and looked around her with eyes that flashed death from their
glance. From the valley came a rumbling sound; men were busily at work
blasting the rocks to form tunnels, and laying down roads for the
railway. "They are playing at work underground, like moles," said she.
"They are digging passages beneath the earth, and the noise is like
the reports of cannons. I shall throw down my palaces, for the
clamor is louder than the roar of thunder. " Then there ascended from
the valley a thick vapor, which waved itself in the air like a
fluttering veil. It rose, as a plume of feathers, from a steam engine,
to which, on the lately-opened railway, a string of carriages was
linked, carriage to carriage, looking like a winding serpent. The
train shot past with the speed of an arrow. "They play at being
masters down there, those spirits of strength! " exclaimed the Ice
Maiden; "but the powers of nature are still the rulers. " And she
laughed and sang till her voice sounded through the valley, and people
said it was the rolling of an avalanche. But the children of the sun
sang in louder strains in praise of the mind of man, which can span
the sea as with a yoke, can level mountains, and fill up valleys. It
is the power of thought which gives man the mastery over nature.
Just at this moment there came across the snow-field, where the
Ice Maiden sat, a party of travellers. They had bound themselves
fast to each other, so that they looked like one large body on the
slippery plains of ice encircling the deep abyss.
"Worms! " exclaimed the Ice Maiden. "You, the lords of the powers
of nature! " And she turned away and looked maliciously at the deep
valley where the railway train was rushing by. "There they sit,
these thoughts! " she exclaimed. "There they sit in their power over
nature's strength. I see them all. One sits proudly apart, like a
king; others sit together in a group; yonder, half of them are asleep;
and when the steam dragon stops, they will get out and go their way.
The thoughts go forth into the world," and she laughed.
"There goes another avalanche," said those in the valley beneath.
he, and he clung as firmly to the edges of the rocks as a limpet. He
had strong muscular power, as could be seen when he leapt from rock to
rock. He had learnt this first from the cat, and more lately from
the chamois. Rudy was considered the best guide over the mountains;
every one had great confidence in him. He might have made a great deal
of money as guide. His uncle had also taught him the trade of a
cooper; but he had no inclination for either; his delight was in
chamois-hunting, which also brought him plenty of money. Rudy would be
a very good match, as people said, if he would not look above his
own station. He was also such a famous partner in dancing, that the
girls often dreamt about him, and one and another thought of him
even when awake.
"He kissed me in the dance," said Annette, the schoolmaster's
daughter, to her dearest friend; but she ought not to have told
this, even to her dearest friend. It is not easy to keep such secrets;
they are like sand in a sieve; they slip out. It was therefore soon
known that Rudy, so brave and so good as he was, had kissed some one
while dancing, and yet he had never kissed her who was dearest to him.
"Ah, ah," said an old hunter, "he has kissed Annette, has he? he
has begun with A, and I suppose he will kiss through the whole
alphabet. "
But a kiss in the dance was all the busy tongues could accuse
him of. He certainly had kissed Annette, but she was not the flower of
his heart.
Down in the valley, near Bex, among the great walnut-trees, by the
side of a little rushing mountain-stream, lived a rich miller. His
dwelling-house was a large building, three storeys high, with little
turrets. The roof was covered with chips, bound together with tin
plates, that glittered in sunshine and in the moonlight. The largest
of the turrets had a weather-cock, representing an apple pierced by
a glittering arrow, in memory of William Tell. The mill was a neat and
well-ordered place, that allowed itself to be sketched and written
about; but the miller's daughter did not permit any to sketch or write
about her. So, at least, Rudy would have said, for her image was
pictured in his heart; her eyes shone in it so brightly, that quite
a flame had been kindled there; and, like all other fires, it had
burst forth so suddenly, that the miller's daughter, the beautiful
Babette, was quite unaware of it. Rudy had never spoken a word to
her on the subject. The miller was rich, and, on that account, Babette
stood very high, and was rather difficult to aspire to. But said
Rudy to himself, "Nothing is too high for a man to reach: he must
climb with confidence in himself, and he will not fail. " He had learnt
this lesson in his youthful home.
It happened once that Rudy had some business to settle at Bex.
It was a long journey at that time, for the railway had not been
opened. From the glaciers of the Rhone, at the foot of the Simplon,
between its ever-changing mountain summits, stretches the valley of
the canton Valais. Through it runs the noble river of the Rhone, which
often overflows its banks, covering fields and highways, and
destroying everything in its course. Near the towns of Sion and St.
Maurice, the valley takes a turn, and bends like an elbow, and
behind St. Maurice becomes so narrow that there is only space enough
for the bed of the river and a narrow carriage-road. An old tower
stands here, as if it were guardian to the canton Valais, which ends
at this point; and from it we can look across the stone bridge to
the toll-house on the other side, where the canton Vaud commences. Not
far from this spot stands the town of Bex, and at every step can be
seen an increase of fruitfulness and verdure. It is like entering a
grove of chestnut and walnut-trees. Here and there the cypress and
pomegranate blossoms peep forth; and it is almost as warm as an
Italian climate. Rudy arrived at Bex, and soon finished the business
which had brought him there, and then walked about the town; but not
even the miller's boy could be seen, nor any one belonging to the
mill, not to mention Babette. This did not please him at all.
Evening came on. The air was filled with the perfume of the wild thyme
and the blossoms of the lime-trees, and the green woods on the
mountains seemed to be covered with a shining veil, blue as the sky.
Over everything reigned a stillness, not of sleep or of death, but
as if Nature were holding her breath, that her image might be
photographed on the blue vault of heaven. Here and there, amidst the
trees of the silent valley, stood poles which supported the wires of
the electric telegraph. Against one of these poles leaned an object so
motionless that it might have been mistaken for the trunk of a tree;
but it was Rudy, standing there as still as at that moment was
everything around him. He was not asleep, neither was he dead; but
just as the various events in the world--matters of momentous
importance to individuals--were flying through the telegraph wires,
without the quiver of a wire or the slightest tone, so, through the
mind of Rudy, thoughts of overwhelming importance were passing,
without an outward sign of emotion. The happiness of his future life
depended upon the decision of his present reflections. His eyes were
fixed on one spot in the distance--a light that twinkled through the
foliage from the parlor of the miller's house, where Babette dwelt.
Rudy stood so still, that it might have been supposed he was
watching for a chamois; but he was in reality like a chamois, who will
stand for a moment, looking as if it were chiselled out of the rock,
and then, if only a stone rolled by, would suddenly bound forward with
a spring, far away from the hunter. And so with Rudy: a sudden roll of
his thoughts roused him from his stillness, and made him bound forward
with determination to act.
"Never despair! " cried he. "A visit to the mill, to say good
evening to the miller, and good evening to little Babette, can do no
harm. No one ever fails who has confidence in himself. If I am to be
Babette's husband, I must see her some time or other. "
Then Rudy laughed joyously, and took courage to go to the mill. He
knew what he wanted; he wanted to marry Babette. The clear water of
the river rolled over its yellow bed, and willows and lime-trees
were reflected in it, as Rudy stepped along the path to the miller's
house. But, as the children sing--
"There was no one at home in the house,
Only a kitten at play. "
The cat standing on the steps put up its back and cried "mew. " But
Rudy had no inclination for this sort of conversation; he passed on,
and knocked at the door. No one heard him, no one opened the door.
"Mew," said the cat again; and had Rudy been still a child, he would
have understood this language, and known that the cat wished to tell
him there was no one at home. So he was obliged to go to the mill
and make inquiries, and there he heard that the miller had gone on a
journey to Interlachen, and taken Babette with him, to the great
shooting festival, which began that morning, and would continue for
eight days, and that people from all the German settlements would be
there.
Poor Rudy! we may well say. It was not a fortunate day for his
visit to Bex. He had just to return the way he came, through St.
Maurice and Sion, to his home in the valley. But he did not despair.
When the sun rose the next morning, his good spirits had returned;
indeed he had never really lost them. "Babette is at Interlachen,"
said Rudy to himself, "many days' journey from here. It is certainly a
long way for any one who takes the high-road, but not so far if he
takes a short cut across the mountain, and that just suits a
chamois-hunter. I have been that way before, for it leads to the
home of my childhood, where, as a little boy, I lived with my
grandfather. And there are shooting matches at Interlachen. I will go,
and try to stand first in the match. Babette will be there, and I
shall be able to make her acquaintance. "
Carrying his light knapsack, which contained his Sunday clothes,
on his back, and with his musket and his game-bag over his shoulder,
Rudy started to take the shortest way across the mountain. Still it
was a great distance. The shooting matches were to commence on that
day, and to continue for a whole week. He had been told also that
the miller and Babette would remain that time with some relatives at
Interlachen. So over the Gemmi Rudy climbed bravely, and determined to
descend the side of the Grindelwald. Bright and joyous were his
feelings as he stepped lightly onwards, inhaling the invigorating
mountain air. The valley sunk as he ascended, the circle of the
horizon expanded. One snow-capped peak after another rose before
him, till the whole of the glittering Alpine range became visible.
Rudy knew each ice-clad peak, and he continued his course towards
the Schreckhorn, with its white powdered stone finger raised high in
the air. At length he had crossed the highest ridges, and before him
lay the green pasture lands sloping down towards the valley, which was
once his home. The buoyancy of the air made his heart light. Hill
and valley were blooming in luxuriant beauty, and his thoughts were
youthful dreams, in which old age or death were out of the question.
Life, power, and enjoyment were in the future, and he felt free and
light as a bird. And the swallows flew round him, as in the days of
his childhood, singing "We and you--you and we. " All was overflowing
with joy. Beneath him lay the meadows, covered with velvety green,
with the murmuring river flowing through them, and dotted here and
there were small wooden houses. He could see the edges of the
glaciers, looking like green glass against the soiled snow, and the
deep chasms beneath the loftiest glacier. The church bells were
ringing, as if to welcome him to his home with their sweet tones.
His heart beat quickly, and for a moment he seemed to have
foregotten Babette, so full were his thoughts of old recollections. He
was, in imagination, once more wandering on the road where, when a
little boy, he, with other children, came to sell their curiously
carved toy houses. Yonder, behind the fir-trees, still stood his
grandfather's house, his mother's father, but strangers dwelt in it
now. Children came running to him, as he had once done, and wished
to sell their wares. One of them offered him an Alpine rose. Rudy took
the rose as a good omen, and thought of Babette. He quickly crossed
the bridge where the two rivers flow into each other. Here he found
a walk over-shadowed with large walnut-trees, and their thick
foliage formed a pleasant shade. Very soon he perceived in the
distance, waving flags, on which glittered a white cross on a red
ground--the standard of the Danes as well as of the Swiss--and
before him lay Interlachen.
"It is really a splendid town, like none other that I have ever
seen," said Rudy to himself. It was indeed a Swiss town in its holiday
dress. Not like the many other towns, crowded with heavy stone houses,
stiff and foreign looking. No; here it seemed as if the wooden
houses on the hills had run into the valley, and placed themselves
in rows and ranks by the side of the clear river, which rushes like an
arrow in its course. The streets were rather irregular, it is true,
but still this added to their picturesque appearance. There was one
street which Rudy thought the prettiest of them all; it had been built
since he had visited the town when a little boy. It seemed to him as
if all the neatest and most curiously carved toy houses which his
grandfather once kept in the large cupboard at home, had been
brought out and placed in this spot, and that they had increased in
size since then, as the old chestnut trees had done. The houses were
called hotels; the woodwork on the windows and balconies was curiously
carved. The roofs were gayly painted, and before each house was a
flower garden, which separated it from the macadamized high-road.
These houses all stood on the same side of the road, so that the
fresh, green meadows, in which were cows grazing, with bells on
their necks, were not hidden. The sound of these bells is often
heard amidst Alpine scenery. These meadows were encircled by lofty
hills, which receded a little in the centre, so that the most
beautifully formed of Swiss mountains--the snow-crowned Jungfrau--could
be distinctly seen glittering in the distance. A number of
elegantly dressed gentlemen and ladies from foreign lands, and
crowds of country people from the neighboring cantons, were
assembled in the town. Each marksman wore the number of hits he had
made twisted in a garland round his hat. Here were music and singing
of all descriptions: hand-organs, trumpets, shouting, and noise. The
houses and bridges were adorned with verses and inscriptions. Flags
and banners were waving. Shot after shot was fired, which was the best
music to Rudy's ears. And amidst all this excitement he quite forgot
Babette, on whose account only he had come. The shooters were
thronging round the target, and Rudy was soon amongst them. But when
he took his turn to fire, he proved himself the best shot, for he
always struck the bull's-eye.
"Who may that young stranger be? " was the inquiry on all sides.
"He speaks French as it is spoken in the Swiss cantons. "
"And makes himself understood very well when he speaks German,"
said some.
"He lived here, when a child, with his grandfather, in a house
on the road to Grindelwald," remarked one of the sportsmen.
And full of life was this young stranger; his eyes sparkled, his
glance was steady, and his arm sure, therefore he always hit the mark.
Good fortune gives courage, and Rudy was always courageous. He soon
had a circle of friends gathered round him. Every one noticed him, and
did him homage. Babette had quite vanished from his thoughts, when
he was struck on the shoulder by a heavy hand, and a deep voice said
to him in French, "You are from the canton Valais. "
Rudy turned round, and beheld a man with a ruddy, pleasant face,
and a stout figure. It was the rich miller from Bex. His broad, portly
person, hid the slender, lovely Babette; but she came forward and
glanced at him with her bright, dark eyes. The rich miller was very
much flattered at the thought that the young man, who was acknowledged
to be the best shot, and was so praised by every one, should be from
his own canton. Now was Rudy really fortunate: he had travelled all
this way to this place, and those he had forgotten were now come to
seek him. When country people go far from home, they often meet with
those they know, and improve their acquaintance. Rudy, by his
shooting, had gained the first place in the shooting-match, just as
the miller at home at Bex stood first, because of his money and his
mill. So the two men shook hands, which they had never done before.
Babette, too, held out her hand to Rudy frankly, and he pressed it
in his, and looked at her so earnestly, that she blushed deeply. The
miller talked of the long journey they had travelled, and of the
many towns they had seen. It was his opinion that he had really made
as great a journey as if he had travelled in a steamship, a railway
carriage, or a post-chaise.
"I came by a much shorter way," said Rudy; "I came over the
mountains. There is no road so high that a man may not venture upon
it. "
"Ah, yes; and break your neck," said the miller; "and you look
like one who will break his neck some day, you are so daring. "
"Oh, nothing ever happens to a man if he has confidence in
himself," replied Rudy.
The miller's relations at Interlachen, with whom the miller and
Babette were staying, invited Rudy to visit them, when they found he
came from the same canton as the miller. It was a most pleasant visit.
Good fortune seemed to follow him, as it does those who think and
act for themselves, and who remember the proverb, "Nuts are given to
us, but they are not cracked for us. " And Rudy was treated by the
miller's relations almost like one of the family, and glasses of
wine were poured out to drink to the welfare of the best shooter.
Babette clinked glasses with Rudy, and he returned thanks for the
toast. In the evening they all took a delightful walk under the
walnut-trees, in front of the stately hotels; there were so many
people, and such crowding, that Rudy was obliged to offer his arm to
Babette. Then he told her how happy it made him to meet people from
the canton Vaud,--for Vaud and Valais were neighboring cantons. He
spoke of this pleasure so heartily that Babette could not resist
giving his arm a slight squeeze; and so they walked on together, and
talked and chatted like old acquaintances. Rudy felt inclined to laugh
sometimes at the absurd dress and walk of the foreign ladies; but
Babette did not wish to make fun of them, for she knew there must be
some good, excellent people amongst them; she, herself, had a
godmother, who was a high-born English lady. Eighteen years before,
when Babette was christened, this lady was staying at Bex, and she
stood godmother for her, and gave her the valuable brooch she now wore
in her bosom.
Her godmother had twice written to her, and this year she was
expected to visit Interlachen with her two daughters; "but they are
old-maids," added Babette, who was only eighteen: "they are nearly
thirty. " Her sweet little mouth was never still a moment, and all that
she said sounded in Rudy's ears as matters of the greatest importance,
and at last he told her what he was longing to tell. How often he
had been at Bex, how well he knew the mill, and how often he had
seen Babette, when most likely she had not noticed him; and lastly,
that full of many thoughts which he could not tell her, he had been to
the mill on the evening when she and her father has started on their
long journey, but not too far for him to find a way to overtake
them. He told her all this, and a great deal more; he told her how
much he could endure for her; and that it was to see her, and not
the shooting-match, which had brought him to Interlachen. Babette
became quite silent after hearing all this; it was almost too much,
and it troubled her.
And while they thus wandered on, the sun sunk behind the lofty
mountains. The Jungfrau stood out in brightness and splendor, as a
back-ground to the green woods of the surrounding hills. Every one
stood still to look at the beautiful sight, Rudy and Babette among
them.
"Nothing can be more beautiful than this," said Babette.
"Nothing! " replied Rudy, looking at Babette.
"To-morrow I must return home," remarked Rudy a few minutes
afterwards.
"Come and visit us at Bex," whispered Babette; "my father will
be pleased to see you. "
V. ON THE WAY HOME
Oh, what a number of things Rudy had to carry over the
mountains, when he set out to return home! He had three silver cups,
two handsome pistols, and a silver coffee-pot. This latter would be
useful when he began housekeeping. But all these were not the heaviest
weight he had to bear; something mightier and more important he
carried with him in his heart, over the high mountains, as he
journeyed homeward.
The weather was dismally dark, and inclined to rain; the clouds
hung low, like a mourning veil on the tops of the mountains, and
shrouded their glittering peaks. In the woods could be heard the sound
of the axe and the heavy fall of the trunks of the trees, as they
rolled down the slopes of the mountains. When seen from the heights,
the trunks of these trees looked like slender stems; but on a nearer
inspection they were found to be large and strong enough for the masts
of a ship. The river murmured monotonously, the wind whistled, and the
clouds sailed along hurriedly.
Suddenly there appeared, close by Rudy's side, a young maiden;
he had not noticed her till she came quite near to him. She was also
going to ascend the mountain. The maiden's eyes shone with an
unearthly power, which obliged you to look into them; they were
strange eyes,--clear, deep, and unfathomable.
"Hast thou a lover? " asked Rudy; all his thoughts were naturally
on love just then.
"I have none," answered the maiden, with a laugh; it was as if she
had not spoken the truth.
"Do not let us go such a long way round," said she. "We must
keep to the left; it is much shorter. "
"Ah, yes," he replied; "and fall into some crevasse. Do you
pretend to be a guide, and not know the road better than that? "
"I know every step of the way," said she; "and my thoughts are
collected, while yours are down in the valley yonder. We should
think of the Ice Maiden while we are up here; men say she is not
kind to their race. "
"I fear her not," said Rudy. "She could not keep me when I was a
child; I will not give myself up to her now I am a man. "
Darkness came on, the rain fell, and then it began to snow, and
the whiteness dazzled the eyes.
"Give me your hand," said the maiden; "I will help you to
mount. " And he felt the touch of her icy fingers.
"You help me," cried Rudy; "I do not yet require a woman to help
me to climb. " And he stepped quickly forwards away from her.
The drifting snow-shower fell like a veil between them, the wind
whistled, and behind him he could hear the maiden laughing and
singing, and the sound was most strange to hear.
"It certainly must be a spectre or a servant of the Ice Maiden,"
thought Rudy, who had heard such things talked about when he was a
little boy, and had stayed all night on the mountain with the guides.
The snow fell thicker than ever, the clouds lay beneath him; he
looked back, there was no one to be seen, but he heard sounds of
mocking laughter, which were not those of a human voice.
When Rudy at length reached the highest part of the mountain,
where the path led down to the valley of the Rhone, the snow had
ceased, and in the clear heavens he saw two bright stars twinkling.
They reminded him of Babette and of himself, and of his future
happiness, and his heart glowed at the thought.
VI. THE VISIT TO THE MILL
"What beautiful things you have brought home! " said his old
foster-mother; and her strange-looking eagle-eyes sparkled, while
she wriggled and twisted her skinny neck more quickly and strangely
than ever. "You have brought good luck with you, Rudy. I must give you
a kiss, my dear boy. "
Rudy allowed himself to be kissed; but it could be seen by his
countenance that he only endured the infliction as a homely duty.
"How handsome you are, Rudy! " said the old woman.
"Don't flatter," said Rudy, with a laugh; but still he was
pleased.
"I must say once more," said the old woman, "that you are very
lucky. "
"Well, in that I believe you are right," said he, as he thought of
Babette. Never had he felt such a longing for that deep valley as he
now had. "They must have returned home by this time," said he to
himself, "it is already two days over the time which they fixed
upon. I must go to Bex. "
So Rudy set out to go to Bex; and when he arrived there, he
found the miller and his daughter at home. They received him kindly,
and brought him many greetings from their friends at Interlachen.
Babette did not say much. She seemed to have become quite silent;
but her eyes spoke, and that was quite enough for Rudy. The miller had
generally a great deal to talk about, and seemed to expect that
every one should listen to his jokes, and laugh at them; for was not
he the rich miller? But now he was more inclined to hear Rudy's
adventures while hunting and travelling, and to listen to his
descriptions of the difficulties the chamois-hunter has to overcome on
the mountain-tops, or of the dangerous snow-drifts which the wind
and weather cause to cling to the edges of the rocks, or to lie in the
form of a frail bridge over the abyss beneath. The eyes of the brave
Rudy sparkled as he described the life of a hunter, or spoke of the
cunning of the chamois and their wonderful leaps; also of the powerful
fohn and the rolling avalanche. He noticed that the more he described,
the more interested the miller became, especially when he spoke of the
fierce vulture and of the royal eagle. Not far from Bex, in the canton
Valais, was an eagle's nest, more curiously built under a high,
over-hanging rock. In this nest was a young eagle; but who would
venture to take it? A young Englishman had offered Rudy a whole
handful of gold, if he would bring him the young eagle alive.
"There is a limit to everything," was Rudy's reply. "The eagle
could not be taken; it would be folly to attempt it. "
The wine was passed round freely, and the conversation kept up
pleasantly; but the evening seemed too short for Rudy, although it was
midnight when he left the miller's house, after this his first visit.
While the lights in the windows of the miller's house still
twinkled through the green foliage, out through the open skylight came
the parlor-cat on to the roof, and along the water-pipe walked the
kitchen-cat to meet her.
"What is the news at the mill? " asked the parlor-cat. "Here in the
house there is secret love-making going on, which the father knows
nothing about. Rudy and Babette have been treading on each other's
paws, under the table, all the evening. They trod on my tail twice,
but I did not mew; that would have attracted notice. "
"Well, I should have mewed," said the kitchen-cat.
"What might suit the kitchen would not suit the parlor," said
the other. "I am quite curious to know what the miller will say when
he finds out this engagement. "
Yes, indeed; what would the miller say? Rudy himself was anxious
to know that; but to wait till the miller heard of it from others
was out of the question. Therefore, not many days after this visit, he
was riding in the omnibus that runs between the two cantons, Valais
and Vaud. These cantons are separated by the Rhone, over which is a
bridge that unites them. Rudy, as usual, had plenty of courage, and
indulged in pleasant thoughts of the favorable answer he should
receive that evening. And when the omnibus returned, Rudy was again
seated in it, going homewards; and at the same time the parlor-cat
at the miller's house ran out quickly, crying,--
"Here, you from the kitchen, what do you think? The miller knows
all now. Everything has come to a delightful end. Rudy came here
this evening, and he and Babette had much whispering and secret
conversation together. They stood in the path near the miller's
room. I lay at their feet; but they had no eyes or thoughts for me.
"'I will go to your father at once,' said he; 'it is the most
honorable way. '
"'Shall I go with you? ' asked Babette; 'it will give you courage. '
"'I have plenty of courage,' said Rudy; 'but if you are with me,
he must be friendly, whether he says Yes or No. '
"So they turned to go in, and Rudy trod heavily on my tail; he
certainly is very clumsy. I mewed; but neither he nor Babette had
any ears for me. They opened the door, and entered together. I was
before them, and jumped on the back of a chair. I hardly know what
Rudy said; but the miller flew into a rage, and threatened to kick him
out of the house. He told him he might go to the mountains, and look
after the chamois, but not after our little Babette. "
"And what did they say? Did they speak? " asked the kitchen-cat.
"What did they say! why, all that people generally do say when
they go a-wooing--'I love her, and she loves me; and when there is
milk in the can for one, there is milk in the can for two. '
"'But she is so far above you,' said the miller; 'she has heaps of
gold, as you know. You should not attempt to reach her. '
"'There is nothing so high that a man cannot reach, if he will,'
answered Rudy; for he is a brave youth.
"'Yet you could not reach the young eagle,' said the miller,
laughing. 'Babette is higher than the eagle's nest. '
"'I will have them both,' said Rudy.
"'Very well; I will give her to you when you bring me the young
eaglet alive,' said the miller; and he laughed till the tears stood in
his eyes. 'But now I thank you for this visit, Rudy; and if you come
to-morrow, you will find nobody at home. Good-bye, Rudy. '
"Babette also wished him farewell; but her voice sounded as
mournful as the mew of a little kitten that has lost its mother.
"'A promise is a promise between man and man,' said Rudy. 'Do
not weep, Babette; I shall bring the young eagle. '
"'You will break your neck, I hope,' said the miller, 'and we
shall be relieved from your company. '
"I call that kicking him out of the house," said the parlor-cat.
"And now Rudy is gone, and Babette sits and weeps, while the miller
sings German songs that he learnt on his journey; but I do not trouble
myself on the matter,--it would be of no use. "
"Yet, for all that, it is a very strange affair," said the
kitchen-cat.
VII. THE EAGLE'S NEST
From the mountain-path came a joyous sound of some person
whistling, and it betokened good humor and undaunted courage. It was
Rudy, going to meet his friend Vesinaud. "You must come and help,"
said he. "I want to carry off the young eaglet from the top of the
rock. We will take young Ragli with us. "
"Had you not better first try to take down the moon? That would be
quite as easy a task," said Vesinaud. "You seem to be in good
spirits. "
"Yes, indeed I am. I am thinking of my wedding. But to be serious,
I will tell you all about it, and how I am situated. "
Then he explained to Vesinaud and Ragli what he wished to do,
and why.
"You are a daring fellow," said they; "but it is no use; you
will break your neck. "
"No one falls, unless he is afraid," said Rudy.
So at midnight they set out, carrying with them poles, ladders,
and ropes. The road lay amidst brushwood and underwood, over rolling
stones, always upwards higher and higher in the dark night. Waters
roared beneath them, or fell in cascades from above. Humid clouds were
driving through the air as the hunters reached the precipitous ledge
of the rock. It was even darker here, for the sides of the rocks
almost met, and the light penetrated only through a small opening at
the top. At a little distance from the edge could be heard the sound
of the roaring, foaming waters in the yawning abyss beneath them.
The three seated themselves on a stone, to await in stillness the dawn
of day, when the parent eagle would fly out, as it would be
necessary to shoot the old bird before they could think of gaining
possession of the young one. Rudy sat motionless, as if he had been
part of the stone on which he sat. He held his gun ready to fire, with
his eyes fixed steadily on the highest point of the cliff, where the
eagle's nest lay concealed beneath the overhanging rock.
The three hunters had a long time to wait. At last they heard a
rustling, whirring sound above them, and a large hovering object
darkened the air. Two guns were ready to aim at the dark body of the
eagle as it rose from the nest. Then a shot was fired; for an
instant the bird fluttered its wide-spreading wings, and seemed as
if it would fill up the whole of the chasm, and drag down the
hunters in its fall. But it was not so; the eagle sunk gradually
into the abyss beneath, and the branches of trees and bushes were
broken by its weight. Then the hunters roused themselves: three of the
longest ladders were brought and bound together; the topmost ring of
these ladders would just reach the edge of the rock which hung over
the abyss, but no farther. The point beneath which the eagle's nest
lay sheltered was much higher, and the sides of the rock were as
smooth as a wall. After consulting together, they determined to bind
together two more ladders, and to hoist them over the cavity, and so
form a communication with the three beneath them, by binding the upper
ones to the lower. With great difficulty they contrived to drag the
two ladders over the rock, and there they hung for some moments,
swaying over the abyss; but no sooner had they fastened them together,
than Rudy placed his foot on the lowest step.
It was a bitterly cold morning; clouds of mist were rising from
beneath, and Rudy stood on the lower step of the ladder as a fly rests
on a piece of swinging straw, which a bird may have dropped from the
edge of the nest it was building on some tall factory chimney; but the
fly could fly away if the straw were shaken, Rudy could only break his
neck. The wind whistled around him, and beneath him the waters of
the abyss, swelled by the thawing of the glaciers, those palaces of
the Ice Maiden, foamed and roared in their rapid course. When Rudy
began to ascend, the ladder trembled like the web of the spider,
when it draws out the long, delicate threads; but as soon as he
reached the fourth of the ladders, which had been bound together, he
felt more confidence,--he knew that they had been fastened securely by
skilful hands. The fifth ladder, that appeared to reach the nest,
was supported by the sides of the rock, yet it swung to and fro, and
flapped about like a slender reed, and as if it had been bound by
fishing lines. It seemed a most dangerous undertaking to ascend it,
but Rudy knew how to climb; he had learnt that from the cat, and he
had no fear. He did not observe Vertigo, who stood in the air behind
him, trying to lay hold of him with his outstretched polypous arms.
When at length he stood on the topmost step of the ladder, he
found that he was still some distance below the nest, and not even
able to see into it. Only by using his hands and climbing could he
possibly reach it. He tried the strength of the stunted trees, and the
thick underwood upon which the nest rested, and of which it was
formed, and finding they would support his weight, he grasped them
firmly, and swung himself up from the ladder till his head and
breast were above the nest, and then what an overpowering stench
came from it, for in it lay the putrid remains of lambs, chamois,
and birds. Vertigo, although he could not reach him, blew the
poisonous vapor in his face, to make him giddy and faint; and beneath,
in the dark, yawning deep, on the rushing waters, sat the Ice
Maiden, with her long, pale, green hair falling around her, and her
death-like eyes fixed upon him, like the two barrels of a gun. "I have
thee now," she cried.
In a corner of the eagle's nest sat the young eaglet, a large
and powerful bird, though still unable to fly. Rudy fixed his eyes
upon it, held on by one hand with all his strength, and with the other
threw a noose round the young eagle. The string slipped to its legs.
Rudy tightened it, and thus secured the bird alive. Then flinging
the sling over his shoulder, so that the creature hung a good way down
behind him, he prepared to descend with the help of a rope, and his
foot soon touched safely the highest step of the ladder. Then Rudy,
remembering his early lesson in climbing, "Hold fast, and do not
fear," descended carefully down the ladders, and at last stood
safely on the ground with the young living eaglet, where he was
received with loud shouts of joy and congratulations.
VIII. WHAT FRESH NEWS THE PARLOR-CAT HAD TO TELL
"There is what you asked for," said Rudy, as he entered the
miller's house at Bex, and placed on the floor a large basket. He
removed the lid as he spoke, and a pair of yellow eyes, encircled by a
black ring, stared forth with a wild, fiery glance, that seemed
ready to burn and destroy all that came in its way. Its short,
strong beak was open, ready to bite, and on its red throat were
short feathers, like stubble.
"The young eaglet! " cried the miller.
Babette screamed, and started back, while her eyes wandered from
Rudy to the bird in astonishment.
"You are not to be discouraged by difficulties, I see," said the
miller.
"And you will keep your word," replied Rudy. "Each has his own
characteristic, whether it is honor or courage. "
"But how is it you did not break your neck? " asked the miller.
"Because I held fast," answered Rudy; "and I mean to hold fast
to Babette. "
"You must get her first," said the miller, laughing; and Babette
thought this a very good sign.
"We must take the bird out of the basket," said she. "It is
getting into a rage; how its eyes glare. How did you manage to conquer
it? "
Then Rudy had to describe his adventure, and the miller's eyes
opened wide as he listened.
"With your courage and your good fortune you might win three
wives," said the miller.
"Oh, thank you," cried Rudy.
"But you have not won Babette yet," said the miller, slapping
the young Alpine hunter on the shoulder playfully.
"Have you heard the fresh news at the mill? " asked the
parlor-cat of the kitchen-cat. "Rudy has brought us the young eagle,
and he is to take Babette in exchange. They kissed each other in the
presence of the old man, which is as good as an engagement. He was
quite civil about it; drew in his claws, and took his afternoon nap,
so that the two were left to sit and wag their tails as much as they
pleased. They have so much to talk about that it will not be
finished till Christmas. " Neither was it finished till Christmas.
The wind whirled the faded, fallen leaves; the snow drifted in the
valleys, as well as upon the mountains, and the Ice Maiden sat in
the stately palace which, in winter time, she generally occupied.
The perpendicular rocks were covered with slippery ice, and where in
summer the stream from the rocks had left a watery veil, icicles large
and heavy hung from the trees, while the snow-powdered fir-trees
were decorated with fantastic garlands of crystal. The Ice Maiden rode
on the howling wind across the deep valleys, the country, as far as
Bex, was covered with a carpet of snow, so that the Ice Maiden could
follow Rudy, and see him, when he visited the mill; and while in the
room at the miller's house, where he was accustomed to spend so much
of his time with Babette. The wedding was to take place in the
following summer, and they heard enough of it, for so many of their
friends spoke of the matter.
Then came sunshine to the mill. The beautiful Alpine roses
bloomed, and joyous, laughing Babette, was like the early spring,
which makes all the birds sing of summer time and bridal days.
"How those two do sit and chatter together," said the
parlor-cat; "I have had enough of their mewing. "
IX. THE ICE MAIDEN
The walnut and chestnut trees, which extend from the bridge of St.
Maurice, by the river Rhone, to the shores of the lake of Geneva, were
already covered with the delicate green garlands of early spring, just
bursting into bloom, while the Rhone rushed wildly from its source
among the green glaciers which form the ice palace of the Ice
Maiden. She sometimes allows herself to be carried by the keen wind to
the lofty snow-fields, where she stretches herself in the sunshine
on the soft snowy-cushions. From thence she throws her far-seeing
glance into the deep valley beneath, where human beings are busily
moving about like ants on a stone in the sun. "Spirits of strength, as
the children of the sun call you," cried the Ice Maiden, "ye are but
worms! Let but a snow-ball roll, and you and your houses and your
towns are crushed and swept away. " And she raised her proud head,
and looked around her with eyes that flashed death from their
glance. From the valley came a rumbling sound; men were busily at work
blasting the rocks to form tunnels, and laying down roads for the
railway. "They are playing at work underground, like moles," said she.
"They are digging passages beneath the earth, and the noise is like
the reports of cannons. I shall throw down my palaces, for the
clamor is louder than the roar of thunder. " Then there ascended from
the valley a thick vapor, which waved itself in the air like a
fluttering veil. It rose, as a plume of feathers, from a steam engine,
to which, on the lately-opened railway, a string of carriages was
linked, carriage to carriage, looking like a winding serpent. The
train shot past with the speed of an arrow. "They play at being
masters down there, those spirits of strength! " exclaimed the Ice
Maiden; "but the powers of nature are still the rulers. " And she
laughed and sang till her voice sounded through the valley, and people
said it was the rolling of an avalanche. But the children of the sun
sang in louder strains in praise of the mind of man, which can span
the sea as with a yoke, can level mountains, and fill up valleys. It
is the power of thought which gives man the mastery over nature.
Just at this moment there came across the snow-field, where the
Ice Maiden sat, a party of travellers. They had bound themselves
fast to each other, so that they looked like one large body on the
slippery plains of ice encircling the deep abyss.
"Worms! " exclaimed the Ice Maiden. "You, the lords of the powers
of nature! " And she turned away and looked maliciously at the deep
valley where the railway train was rushing by. "There they sit,
these thoughts! " she exclaimed. "There they sit in their power over
nature's strength. I see them all. One sits proudly apart, like a
king; others sit together in a group; yonder, half of them are asleep;
and when the steam dragon stops, they will get out and go their way.
The thoughts go forth into the world," and she laughed.
"There goes another avalanche," said those in the valley beneath.
