"But is it so very dangerous to get at the nest?"
"So dangerous that I couldn't make up my mind to it yesterday," replied Walter. "It is built on one of the steepest crags of the Engelhorn, and can only be reached by a very narrow ridge of rock with dreadful precipices on both sides."
"And you are going to risk your life to help your father to pay the money he owes?"
"Yes; and I am not afraid, if I can only be sure of the reward."
"Well, then, that alters my opinion. Bring me the young vultures, and the forty francs are yours."
Walter warmly thanked the liberal stranger for his generosity, and was about to leave the room; but, surprised at the boy's courage, and perhaps alarmed at the idea of exposing him to such frightful peril, Mr. Seymour called him back.
"I have changed my mind," said he: "I really have no use for the birds, at least not at present, and I dare say you will be able to discover another nest that can be got at without so much danger; and to tell you the truth, I don't care about having such young ones. Go quietly home, my boy. But why do you look so sorrowful and alarmed? Oh, I see: you are afraid of losing the money. No, no; I didn't mean that. Take these two gold coins—they are a present from me—that will just make up the sum that your father wants."
Walter stood as if thunder-struck, unable to understand such generosity, and thought the stranger was joking with him in giving such a large sum for nothing.
"Take it, my boy—take it," said Mr. Seymour, smiling. "Your father must and shall be assisted in his difficulty, for he must be a good man to have such a brave and affectionate son. But the life of a human being can't be risked for the sake of a couple of stupid birds."
In surprise and confusion Walter took the money, expressed his thankfulness in a few mumbled words, and shuffled out of the room. When he reached the open air, he recovered his self-possession to some extent, and holding the gold coins fast in one hand, threw his cap up in the air with the other, uttered a loud shout of joy, and bounded homeward again at the top of his speed. Having reached the cottage, he put the money in a corner of the cupboard in which his father kept his small stock of cash, locked the door, and put the key in a place of safety, and then left the cottage again.