Hand in hand they wander out of the ice palace. The winds hush, the sun bursts forth. They talk of their grandmother, of their rose-trees.
The reindeer has come back, and with him there waits another reindeer. They stand by the bush with the red berries.
The children bound on to their backs, and are carried first to the hut of the Finn woman, and then on to Lapland. The Lapp woman has new clothes ready for them, and brings out her sledge. Once more Kay and Gerda are sitting side by side. The Lapp woman drives, and the two reindeer follow. On and on they speed through the white-robed land. But now they leave it behind. The earth wears her mantle of green.
“Good-by,” they say to the kind Lapp woman; “good-by” to the gentle reindeer.
Together the children enter a forest. How strange and how sweet the song of the birds!
A young girl on horseback comes galloping toward them. She wears a scarlet cap, and has pistols in her belt. It is the robber-girl.
“So you have found little Kay.”
Gerda smiles a radiant smile, and asks for the prince and princess.
“They are traveling far away.”
“And the raven?”