Then he cut the
cord and opened the box and behold! a little babe lay within it,
sweetly sleeping upon a pillow of down.
The miller was so surprised that he stopped singing and gazed with big
eyes at the beautiful face of the little stranger. And while he gazed
its eyes opened--two beautiful, pleading blue eyes,--and the little
one smiled and stretched out her arms toward him.
"Well, well!" said the miller, "where on earth did you come from?"
The baby did not reply, but she tried to, and made some soft little
noises that sounded like the cooing of a pigeon.
The tiny arms were still stretched upwards, and the miller bent down
and tenderly lifted the child from the box and placed her upon his
knee, and then he began to stroke the soft, silken ringlets that
clustered around her head, and to look upon her wonderingly.
The baby leaned against his breast and fell asleep again, and the
miller became greatly troubled, for he was unused to babies and did
not know how to handle them or care for them. But he sat very still
until the little one awoke, and then, thinking it must be hungry, he
brought some sweet milk and fed her with a spoon. The baby smiled at
him and ate the milk as if it liked it, and then one little dimpled
hand caught hold of the miller's whiskers and pulled sturdily, while
the baby jumped its little body up and down and cooed its delight.
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