The forester's daughter heard him go down the stairs again. Then the soldiers came one after another and tried their strength against the trapdoor. But, finding their efforts useless, they all returned to the cellar and began to talk among themselves.
The young woman heard them for a short time, then she rose, opened the door of the house; looked out into the night, and listened.
A sound of distant barking reached her ear. She whistled just as a huntsman would, and almost immediately two great dogs emerged from the darkness, and bounded to her side. She held them tight, and shouted at the top of her voice:
“Hullo, father!”
A far-off voice replied:
“Hullo, Berthine!”
She waited a few seconds, then repeated:
“Hullo, father!”
The voice, nearer now, replied:
“Hullo, Berthine!”