“You will have everything prepared for an expedition tomorrow, in case—­you should have anything to tell us?”

“All shall be in readiness, monsieur.  Pierre (the host) will wake you by sunrise, for with the dawn of Christmas Eve our lucid faculty returns to us, and if we should have good news to give, the start ought to be made early.  We may have far to go, and the days are short.”

He whistled to the great hounds, wished us goodnight, and the two brothers left the house together, followed by Fritz and Bruno.

Pierre lighted a lantern, and mounting a ladder in the corner of the room, invited us to accompany him.  We clambered up this primitive staircase with some difficulty, and presently found ourselves in a bed-chamber not less quaint and picturesque than the kitchen below.  Our beds were both prepared in this room, round the walls of which were piled goat’s-milk cheeses, dried herbs, sacks of meal, and other winter provender.

Outside it was a starlit night, clear, calm, and frosty, with brilliant promise for the coming day.  Long after I was in the land of dreams, I fancy St. Aubyn lay awake, following with restless eyes the stars in their courses, and wondering whether from some far-off, unknown spot his lost boy might not be watching them also.

Dawn, grey and misty, enwrapped the little village when I was startled from my sleep by a noisy chorus of voices and a busy hurrying of footsteps.  A moment later some one, heavily booted, ascended the ladder leading to our bedroom, and a ponderous knock resounded on our door.  St. Aubyn sprang from his bed, lifted the latch, and admitted the younger Raoul, whose beaming eyes and excited manner betrayed, before he spoke, the good tidings in store.

“We have seen him!” he cried, throwing up his hands triumphantly above his head.  “Both of us have seen your son, monsieur!  Not half an hour ago, just as the dawn broke, we saw him in a vision, alive and well in a mountain cave, separated from the valley by a broad torrent.  An Angel of the good Lord has ministered to him:  it is a miracle!  Courage, he will be restored to you.  Dress quickly, and come down to breakfast.  Everything is ready for the expedition, and there is no time to lose!”

These broken ejaculations were interrupted by the voice of the elder brother, calling from the foot of the ladder: 

“Make haste, messieurs, if you please.  The valley we have seen in our dream is fully twelve miles away, and to reach it we shall have to cut our way through the snow.  It is bad at this time of the year, and the passes may be blocked!  Come, Augustin!”

Everything was now hurry and commotion.  All the village was astir; the excitement became intense.  From the window we saw men running eagerly towards our chalet with pickaxes, ropes, hatchets, and other necessary adjuncts of Alpine adventure.  The two great hounds, with others of their breed, were bounding joyfully about in the snow, and showing, I thought, by their intelligent glances and impatient behavior, that they already understood the nature of the intended day’s work.