"Give my regards to Herr Eric; you have a better teacher than I thought," said the father.
Roland went to Eric's room, but he had not yet returned.
The owl's cry was heard again from the tree-top in the park. Roland put out the light, opened the window, took his rifle from the wall, fired, and the owl fell from the tree. Roland ran down stairs, met Eric, and told him that he had hit the bird; he then hurried into the park and brought the creature in.
The whole house was in alarm. Frau Ceres was awakened, and her first cry was:
"Has he killed himself?"
Sonnenkamp and Roland had to go to her room again, to show that they were alive. Roland took the dead owl with him, but his mother would not look at it, and only complained of having been deprived of her sleep.
The father and the son withdrew, and Sonnenkamp praised Roland for having brought down the bird so promptly and boldly.
Eric went back to his mother, who must also have been awakened by the shot, and he found her still awake; she too had feared that it had been some suicidal shot.
The whole house was in a commotion, and it was some time before it could be restored to quiet.
In his pride at having shot the owl, Roland forgot everything else, and went contentedly to bed and to sleep.