azed anxiously at the door, his ear on the alert for the least
sound.

A few moments afterward, Zacharias lifting his head, as though awakening
from a dream, asked him:

"What is your name?"

"Karl Imnant, Monsieur."

"What is your business?"

"My father hopes to obtain the position of a forester in the Grinderwald
for me."

There was a long silence and Zacharias looked at the young man with an
envious eye.

"And she loves you?" he asked in a broken voice.

"Oh, yes, Monsieur; we love each other devotedly."

And Zacharias, letting his eyes fall on his thin legs and his hands
wrinkled and veined, murmured:

"Yes, she ought to love him; he is young and handsome."

And his head fell on his breast again. All at once he arose, trembling in
every limb, and opened the window.

"Young man, you have done very wrong; you will never know how much wrong
you have really done. You must obtain Mr. Foerster's consent--but
go--go--you will hear from me soon."

The young mountaineer did not wait for a second invitation; with one bound
he jumped to the path below and disappeared behind the grand old trees.

"Poor, poor Zacharias," the old Judge murmured, "all your illusions are
fled."

At seven o'clock, having regained his usual calmness of demeanor, he
descended to the room below, where Charlotte, Dame Christine and Yeri were
already waiting breakfast for him. The old man, turning his eyes from the
young girl, advanced to the Head Forester, saying:

"My friend, I have a favor to ask of you. You know the son of the forester
of the Grinderwald, do you not?"

"Karl Imnant, why yes, sir!"

"He is a worthy young man, and well behaved, I believe."

"I think so, Monsieur."

"Is he capable of succeeding his father?"

"Yes, he is twenty-one years old; he knows all about tree-clipping, which
is the most necessary thing of all--he knows how to read and how to write;
but that is not all; he must have influence."

"Well, Master Yeri, I still have some influence in the Department of
Forests and Rivers. This day fortnight, or three weeks at the latest, Karl
Imnant shall be Assistant Forester of the Grinderwald, and I ask the hand
of your daughter Charlotte for this brave young man."

At this request, Charlotte, who had blushed and trembled with fear,
uttered a cry and fell back into her mother's arms.

Her father looking at her severely, said: "What is the matter, Charlotte?
Do you refuse?"

"Oh, no, no, father--no!"