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
