into the deep abyss. Vertigo and the Ice Maiden clutch at human beings, as
the polypus seizes upon all that comes within its reach. And now Vertigo
was to seize Rudy.
“Seize him, indeed,” cried Vertigo; “I cannot do it. That monster of a cat
has taught him her tricks. That child of the human race has a power within
him which keeps me at a distance; I cannot possibly reach the boy when he
hangs from the branches of trees, over the precipice; or I would gladly
tickle his feet, and send him heels over head through the air; but I cannot
accomplish it.”
“We must accomplish it,” said the Ice Maiden; “either you or I must; and
I will-I will!”
“No, no!” sounded through the air, like an echo on the mountain church
bells chime. It was an answer in song, in the melting tones of a chorus from
others of nature’s spirits-good and loving spirits, the daughters of the
sunbeam. They who place themselves in a circle every evening on the
mountain peaks; there they spread out their rose-colored wings, which, as
the sun sinks, become more flaming red, until the lofty Alps seem to burn
with fire. Men call this the Alpine glow. After the sun has set, they
disappear within the white snow on the mountain-tops, and slumber there
till sunrise, when they again come forth. They have great love for flowers,
for butterflies, and for mankind; and from among the latter they had chosen
little Rudy. “You shall not catch him; you shall not seize him!” they sang.
“Greater and stronger than he have I seized!” said the Ice Maiden.
Then the daughters of the sun sang a song of the traveller, whose cloak
had been carried away by the wind. “The wind took the covering, but not
the man; it could even seize upon him, but not hold him fast. The children
of strength are more powerful, more ethereal, even than we are. They can
rise higher than our parent, the sun. They have the magic words that rule the
wind and the waves, and compel them to serve and obey; and they can, at
last, cast off the heavy, oppressive weight of mortality, and soar upwards.”
Thus sweetly sounded the bell-like tones of the chorus.
