o stone.

Babette's courage always rose to emergencies. She looked the man over
from head to foot. He was dressed in green, with a red feather in his
cap. His hair was dark and curly; his eyes were large and would have
been beautiful, but that they had a wild and sinister look that Babette
did not like, and squinted slightly. She seemed to remember his face;
but where or when she had seen him before, she did not know. Her first
thought was that he must be a wizard like one of those her grandmother
had told her stories about.

"Who are you?" he said, shaking her slightly.

"I am Babette, daughter of Count Karl of Eppenhain," said Babette
proudly.

"A Count's daughter--a fine tale--the witch's granddaughter you mean,"
he said with emphasis, and Babette shuddered. "Come along with me,
child!" he continued, "you must follow me now, and serve me well and
cook my dinners. I knew your old grandmother and have often seen you as
a child; a little imp you were," he said. "Now it is high time you
learnt to be useful; they will only turn your head, and teach you
rubbish up there at the Castle; you must come along with me now." Then
he turned to the poor nurse, and said, "In half an hour you will be free
to return to the Castle. Adieu!" He fixed his strange eyes on the nurse,
who swooned away, and thus she was found exactly half an hour afterwards
by the housemaid, who had followed her to say that supper was ready.

You may imagine the consternation at the Castle. The poor Countess who
had been so cold to Babette, seemed to feel it most. She sat and cried:
"O Babette, come back, come back, my dear, and I will be a real mother
to you, indeed I will."

The Count immediately took steps to recover her. The forests were
searched through and through by his men; but not the slightest trace
could they discover.

The seven ravens said: "Caw, caw," and set off at once in search of her.

The next day Fotchen and Silverpaws and the other cats disappeared.
Lucky and several of the old witch's hens were also missed.

It was evident that they had all followed Babette, and that she must be
alive somewhere; but where, that was the question. Where there is magic
at work, it is always a difficult matter.

One clever youth remarked that if one could find her pets, why, then one
might find Babette.

But this brilliant idea was not of much use, as they were _all_ lost.

Meanwhile Babette followed her strange guide with many misgivings and