Theresa rolled it up into as small a compass as possible.
"And here are a few lumps of sugar, Rudolf: put one in your mouth when you reach the glaciers—"
"You make too much of me," said he, tenderly.
"And now," said his mother, "let us kneel down and pray."
With an atmosphere of sanctity about him, and a heart full of good purposes, the young man cheerily started on his perilous mission. It was yet light; but as long as he kept among villages and cottages, there was nothing in a man's trudging along, openly carrying a basket. Once or twice, when he fancied a suspicious eye rested upon it, he cried gaily, "I hope you expect as good a dinner to-morrow as I do!" and began whistling.
At length, after a walk of about six miles, he found himself rising above the haunts of men, though not beyond their observation. He now enveloped himself in the white garment, which covered his burthen as well as himself, put a lump of sugar in his mouth, and pursued his way over the frozen snow; looking like a snow-wreath himself. Suddenly he perceived footprints in various directions.
"Some one has been here lately," thought he: "this outer crust has not long been crushed. Yet who, without a purpose, would be here but the wolf or bear?"
Turning the angle of a rock, he ran against a man, who uttered a shriek, and sprang backwards, throwing out his hands, and exclaiming—
"Avaunt, spirit of the mountain!"
Rudolf, instantly perceiving that his extraordinary costume had made him mistaken for something supernatural, would have seized his advantage by rushing past with a flourish of his arms, and a wild, terrific cry; but unfortunately his white drapery fell off.