The miller knowsall now. Everything has come to a delightful end. Rudy came herethis evening, and he and Babette had much whispering and secretconversation together. They stood in the path near the miller'sroom. 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 mosthonorable 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; hecertainly is very clumsy. I mewed; but neither he nor Babette hadany ears for me. They opened the door, and entered together. I wasbefore them, and jumped on the back of a chair. I hardly know whatRudy said; but the miller flew into a rage, and threatened to kick himout of the house. He told him he might go to the mountains, and lookafter 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 whenthey go a-wooing- 'I love her, and she loves me; and when there ismilk 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 ofgold, 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 youngeaglet alive,' said the miller; and he laughed till the tears stood inhis eyes. 'But now I thank you for this visit, Rudy; and if you cometo-morrow, you will find nobody at home. Good-bye, Rudy.'
  "Babette also wished him farewell; but her voice sounded asmournful as the mew of a little kitten that has lost its mother.
  "'A promise is a promise between man and man,' said Rudy. 'Donot weep, Babette; I shall bring the young eagle.'
  "'You will break your neck, I hope,' said the miller, 'and weshall 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 millersings German songs that he learnt on his journey; but I do not troublemyself on the matter,- it would be of no use."
  "Yet, for all that, it is a very strange affair," said thekitchen-cat.
  VII. THE EAGLE'S NEST
  From the mountain-path came a joyous sound of some personwhistling, and it betokened good humor and undaunted courage. It wasRudy, 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 therock. We will take young Ragli with us."
  "Had you not better first try to take down the moon? That would bequite as easy a task," said Vesinaud. "You seem to be in goodspirits."
  "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; youwill 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 rollingstones, always upwards higher and higher in the dark night. Watersroared beneath them, or fell in cascades from above. Humid clouds weredriving through the air as the hunters reached the precipitous ledgeof the rock. It was even darker here, for the sides of the rocksalmost met, and the light penetrated only through a small opening atthe top. At a little distance from the edge could be heard the soundof the roaring, foaming waters in the yawning abyss beneath them.The three seated themselves on a stone, to await in stillness the dawnof day, when the parent eagle would fly out, as it would benecessary to shoot the old bird before they could think of gainingpossession of the young one. Rudy sat motionless, as if he had beenpart of the stone on which he sat. He held his gun ready to fire, withhis eyes fixed steadily on the highest point of the cliff, where theeagle's nest lay concealed beneath the overhanging rock.
  The three hunters had a long time to wait. At last they heard arustling, whirring sound above them, and a large hovering objectdarkened the air. Two guns were ready to aim at the dark body of theeagle as it rose from the nest. Then a shot was fired; for aninstant the bird fluttered its wide-spreading wings, and seemed asif it would fill up the whole of the chasm, and drag down thehunters in its fall. But it was not so; the eagle sunk graduallyinto the abyss beneath, and the branches of trees and bushes werebroken by its weight. Then the hunters roused themselves: three of thelongest ladders were brought and bound together; the topmost ring ofthese ladders would just reach the edge of the rock which hung overthe abyss, but no farther. The point beneath which the eagle's nestlay sheltered was much higher, and the sides of the rock were assmooth as a wall. After consulting together, they determined to bindtogether two more ladders, and to hoist them over the cavity, and soform a communication with the three beneath them, by binding the upperones to the lower. With great difficulty they contrived to drag thetwo 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 frombeneath, and Rudy stood on the lower step of the ladder as a fly restson a piece of swinging straw, which a bird may have dropped from theedge of the nest it was building on some tall factory chimney; but thefly could fly away if the straw were shaken, Rudy could only break hisneck. The wind whistled around him, and beneath him the waters ofthe abyss, swelled by the thawing of the glaciers, those palaces ofthe Ice Maiden, foamed and roared in their rapid course. When Rudybegan to ascend, the ladder trembled like the web of the spider,when it draws out the long, delicate threads; but as soon as hereached the fourth of the ladders, which had been bound together, hefelt more confidence,- he knew that they had been fastened securely byskilful hands. The fifth ladder, that appeared to reach the nest,was supported by the sides of the rock, yet it swung to and fro, andflapped about like a slender reed, and as if it had been bound byfishing lines. It seemed a most dangerous undertaking to ascend it,but Rudy knew how to climb; he had learnt that from the cat, and hehad no fear. He did not observe Vertigo, who stood in the air behindhim, trying to lay hold of him with his outstretched polypous arms.
  When at length he stood on the topmost step of the ladder, hefound that he was still some distance below the nest, and not evenable to see into it. Only by using his hands and climbing could hepossibly reach it. He tried the strength of the stunted trees, and thethick underwood upon which the nest rested, and of which it wasformed, and finding they would support his weight, he grasped themfirmly, and swung himself up from the ladder till his head andbreast were above the nest, and then what an overpowering stenchcame from it, for in it lay the putrid remains of lambs, chamois,and birds. Vertigo, although he could not reach him, blew thepoisonous vapor in his face, to make him giddy and faint; and beneath,in the dark, yawning deep, on the rushing waters, sat the IceMaiden, with her long, pale, green hair falling around her, and herdeath-like eyes fixed upon him, like the two barrels of a gun. "I havethee now," she cried.
  In a corner of the eagle's nest sat the young eaglet, a largeand powerful bird, though still unable to fly. Rudy fixed his eyesupon it, held on by one hand with all his strength, and with the otherthrew a noose round the young eagle. The string slipped to its legs.Rudy tightened it, and thus secured the bird alive. Then flingingthe sling over his shoulder, so that the creature hung a good way downbehind him, he prepared to descend with the help of a rope, and hisfoot soon touched safely the highest step of the ladder. Then Rudy,remembering his early lesson in climbing, "Hold fast, and do notfear," descended carefully down the ladders, and at last stoodsafely on the ground with the young living eaglet, where he wasreceived 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 themiller's house at Bex, and placed on the floor a large basket. Heremoved the lid as he spoke, and a pair of yellow eyes, encircled by ablack ring, stared forth with a wild, fiery glance, that seemedready to burn and destroy all that came in its way. Its short,strong beak was open, ready to bite, and on its red throat wereshort feathers, like stubble.
  "The young eaglet!"