said his oldfoster-mother; and her strange-looking eagle-eyes sparkled, whileshe wriggled and twisted her skinny neck more quickly and strangelythan ever. "You have brought good luck with you, Rudy. I must give youa kiss, my dear boy."
  Rudy allowed himself to be kissed; but it could be seen by hiscountenance 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 waspleased.
  "I must say once more," said the old woman, "that you are verylucky."
  "Well, in that I believe you are right," said he, as he thought ofBabette. Never had he felt such a longing for that deep valley as henow had. "They must have returned home by this time," said he tohimself, "it is already two days over the time which they fixedupon. I must go to Bex."
  So Rudy set out to go to Bex; and when he arrived there, hefound 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 hadgenerally a great deal to talk about, and seemed to expect thatevery one should listen to his jokes, and laugh at them; for was nothe the rich miller? But now he was more inclined to hear Rudy'sadventures while hunting and travelling, and to listen to hisdescriptions of the difficulties the chamois-hunter has to overcome onthe mountain-tops, or of the dangerous snow-drifts which the windand weather cause to cling to the edges of the rocks, or to lie in theform of a frail bridge over the abyss beneath. The eyes of the braveRudy sparkled as he described the life of a hunter, or spoke of thecunning of the chamois and their wonderful leaps; also of the powerfulfohn and the rolling avalanche. He noticed that the more he described,the more interested the miller became, especially when he spoke of thefierce vulture and of the royal eagle. Not far from Bex, in the cantonValais, was an eagle's nest, more curiously built under a high,over-hanging rock. In this nest was a young eagle; but who wouldventure to take it? A young Englishman had offered Rudy a wholehandful of gold, if he would bring him the young eagle alive.
  "There is a limit to everything," was Rudy's reply. "The eaglecould not be taken; it would be folly to attempt it."
  The wine was passed round freely, and the conversation kept uppleasantly; but the evening seemed too short for Rudy, although it wasmidnight when he left the miller's house, after this his first visit.
  While the lights in the windows of the miller's house stilltwinkled through the green foliage, out through the open skylight camethe parlor-cat on to the roof, and along the water-pipe walked thekitchen-cat to meet her.
  "What is the news at the mill?" asked the parlor-cat. "Here in thehouse there is secret love-making going on, which the father knowsnothing about. Rudy and Babette have been treading on each other'spaws, 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," saidthe other. "I am quite curious to know what the miller will say whenhe finds out this engagement."
  Yes, indeed; what would the miller say? Rudy himself was anxiousto know that; but to wait till the miller heard of it from otherswas out of the question. Therefore, not many days after this visit, hewas riding in the omnibus that runs between the two cantons, Valaisand Vaud. These cantons are separated by the Rhone, over which is abridge that unites them. Rudy, as usual, had plenty of courage, andindulged in pleasant thoughts of the favorable answer he shouldreceive that evening. And when the omnibus returned, Rudy was againseated in it, going homewards; and at the same time the parlor-catat the miller's house ran out quickly, crying,-
  "Here, you from the kitchen, what do you think?