So the eagle took the younger sister to wife , and the owl the elder , and never was a home more peaceful than theirs ! All went well for several months , and then the eagle 's wife had a son , while , on the same day , the owl 's wife gave birth to a frog , which she placed directly on the banks of a stream near by , as he did not seem to like the house . The children both grew quickly , and were never tired of playing together , or wanted any other companions . One night in the spring , when the ice had melted , and the snow was gone , the sisters sat spinning in the house , awaiting their husbands ' return . But long though they watched , neither the owl nor the eagle ever came ; neither that day nor the next , nor the next , nor the next . At last the wives gave up all hope of their return ; but , being sensible women , they did not sit down and cry , but called their children , and set out , determined to seek the whole world over till the missing husbands were found . Now the women had no idea in which direction the lost birds had gone , but they knew that some distance off was a thick forest , where good hunting was to be found . It seemed a likely place to find them , or , at any rate , they might hear something of them , and they walked quickly on , cheered by the thought that they were doing something . Suddenly the younger sister , who was a little in front , gave a cry of surprise . ` Oh ! look at that lake ! ' she said , ` we shall never get across it . ' ` Yes we shall , ' answered the elder ; ' I know what to do . ' And taking a long piece of string from her pocket , fastened it into the frog 's mouth , like a bit . ` You must swim across the lake , ' she said , stooping to put him in , ` and we will walk across on the line behind you . ' And so they did , till they got to about the middle of the lake , when the frog boy stopped . ' I do n't like it , and I wo n't go any further , ' cried he sulkily . And his mother had to promise him all sorts of nice things before he would go on again . When at last they reached the other side , the owl 's wife untied the line from the frog 's mouth and told him he might rest and play by the lake till they got back from the forest . Then she and her sister and the boy walked on , with the great forest looming before them .
But they had by this time come far and were very tired , and felt glad enough to see some smoke curling up XXXXX a little hut in front of them .
So at by for from in of on to with