, whomhe had met near Grindelwald

Rudy left Bex, and took his way home along the mountain path.The air was fresh, but cold; for here amidst the deep snow, the IceMaiden reigned. He was so high up that the large trees beneath him,with their thick foliage, appeared like garden plants, and the pinesand bushes even less. The Alpine roses grew near the snow, which layin detached stripes, and looked like linen laid out to bleach. Ablue gentian grew in his path, and he crushed it with the butt endof his gun. A little higher up, he espied two chamois. Rudy's eyesglistened, and his thoughts flew at once in a different direction; buthe was not near enough to take a sure aim. He ascended still higher,to a spot where a few rough blades of grass grew between the blocks ofstone and the chamois passed quietly on over the snow-fields. Rudywalked hurriedly, while the clouds of mist gathered round him.Suddenly he found himself on the brink of a precipitous rock. The rainwas falling in torrents. He felt a burning thirst, his head was hot,and his limbs trembled with cold. He seized his hunting-flask, butit was empty; he had not thought of filling it before ascending themountain. He had never been ill in his life, nor ever experienced suchsensations as those he now felt. He was so tired that he couldscarcely resist lying down at his full length to sleep, although theground was flooded with the rain. Yet when he tried to rouse himself alittle, every object around him danced and trembled before his eyes.    Suddenly he observed in the doorway of a hut newly built under therock, a young maiden. He did not remember having seen this hut before,yet there it stood; and he thought, at first, that the young maidenwas Annette, the schoolmaster's daughter, whom he had once kissed inthe dance. The maiden was not Annette; yet it seemed as if he had seenher somewhere before, perhaps near Grindelwald, on the evening ofhis return home from Interlachen, after the shooting-match.    "How did you come here?" he asked.    "I am at home," she replied; "I am watching my flocks."    "Your flocks!" he exclaimed; "where do they find pasture? There isnothing here but snow and rocks."    "Much you know of what grows here," she replied, laughing. "notfar beneath us there is beautiful pasture-land. My goats go there. Itend them carefully; I never miss one. What is once mine remainsmine."    "You are bold," said Rudy.    "And so are you," she answered.    "Have you any milk in the house?" he asked; "if so, give me someto drink; my thirst is intolerable."    "I have something better than milk," she replied, "which I willgive you. Some travellers who were here yesterday with their guideleft behind them a half a flask of wine, such as you have nevertasted. They will not come back to fetch it, I know, and I shall notdrink it; so you shall have it."    Then the maiden went to fetch the wine, poured some into awooden cup, and offered it to Rudy.    "How good it is!" said he; "I have never before tasted suchwarm, invigorating wine." And his eyes sparkled with new life; aglow diffused itself over his frame; it seemed as if every sorrow,every oppression were banished from his mind, and a fresh, free naturewere stirring within him. "You are surely Annette, theschoolmaster's daughter," cried he; "will you give me a kiss?"    "Yes, if you will give me that beautiful ring which you wear onyour finger."    "My betrothal ring?" he replied.    "Yes, just so," said the maiden, as she poured out some more wine,and held it to his lips. Again he drank, and a living joy streamedthrough every vein.    "The whole world is mine, why therefore should I grieve?"thought he. "Everything is created for our enjoyment and happiness.The stream of life is a stream of happiness; let us flow on with it tojoy and felicity."    Rudy gazed on the young maiden; it was Annette, and yet it was notAnnette; still less did he suppose it was the spectral phantom, whomhe had met near Grindelwald. The maiden up here on the mountain wasfresh as the new fallen snow, blooming as an Alpine rose, and asnimble-footed as a young kid. Still, she was one of Adam's race,like Rudy. He flung his arms round the beautiful being, and gazed intoher wonderfully clear eyes,- only for a moment; but in that momentwords cannot express the effect of his gaze. Was it the spirit of lifeor of death that overpowered him? Was he rising higher, or sinkinglower and lower into the deep, deadly abyss? He knew not; but thewalls of ice shone like blue-green glass; innumerable clefts yawnedaround him, and the water-drops tinkled like the chiming of churchbells, and shone clearly as pearls in the light of a pale-blueflame. The Ice Maiden, for she it was, kissed him, and her kiss sent achill as of ice through his whole frame. A cry of agony escaped fromhim; he struggled to get free, and tottered from her. For a moment allwas dark before his eyes, but when he opened them again it waslight, and the Alpine maiden had vanished. The powers of evil hadplayed their game; the sheltering hut was no more to be seen. Thewater trickled down the naked sides of the rocks, and snow lay thicklyall around. Rudy shivered with cold; he was wet through to the skin;and his ring was gone,- the betrothal ring that Babette had given him.His gun lay near him in the snow; he took it up and tried to dischargeit, but it missed fire. Heavy clouds lay on the mountain clefts,like firm masses of snow. Upon one of these Vertigo sat, lurking afterhis powerless prey, and from beneath came a sound as if a piece ofrock had fallen from the cleft, and was crushing everything that stoodin its way or opposed its course.    But, at the miller's, Babette sat alone and wept. Rudy had notbeen to see her for six days. He who was in the wrong, and who oughtto ask her forgiveness; for did she not love him with her whole heart?