Then Tyltyl gave Tylô a last kiss, pressed him to his heart and, with never a tremble, put the key in the lock. Yells of terror came from all the corners of the hall, where the runaways had taken shelter, while the two leaves of the great door opened by magic in front of our little friend, who was struck dumb with admiration and delight. What an exquisite surprise! A wonderful garden lay before him, a dream-garden filled with flowers that shone like stars, waterfalls that came rushing from the sky and trees which the moon had clothed in silver. And then there was something whirling like a blue cloud among the clusters of roses. Tyltyl rubbed his eyes; he could not believe his senses. He waited, looked again and then dashed into the garden, shouting like mad:
"Come quickly!... Come quickly!... They are here!... We have them at last!... Millions of blue birds!... Thousands of millions!... Come, Mytyl!... Come, Tylô!... Come, all!... Help me!... You can catch them by handfuls!..."
Reassured at last, his friends came running up and all darted in among the birds, seeing who could catch the most:
"I've caught seven already!" cried Mytyl. "I can't hold them!"
"Nor can I!" said Tyltyl. "I have too many of them!... They're escaping from my arms!... Tylô has some too!... Let us go out, let us go!... Light is waiting for us!... How pleased she will be!... This way, this way!..."
And they all danced and scampered away in their glee, singing songs of triumph as they went.
Night and the Cat, who had not shared in the general rejoicing, crept back anxiously to the great door; and Night whimpered:
"Haven't they got him?..."
"No," said the Cat, who saw the real Blue Bird perched high up on a moonbeam.... "They could not reach him, he kept too high...."
Our friends in all haste ran up the numberless stairs between them and the daylight. Each of them hugged the birds which he had captured, never dreaming that every step which brought them nearer to the light was fatal to the poor things, so that, by the time they came to the top of the staircase, they were carrying nothing but dead birds.