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 from a little hut in front of them . ` Let us go in and ask for some water , ' said the eagle 's wife ; and in they went . The inside of the hut was so dark that at first they could see nothing at all ; but presently they heard a feeble croak from one corner . But sisters turned to look , and there , tied by wings and feet , and their eyes sunken , were the husbands that they sought .
Quick as lightning the wives cut the deer-thongs which bound them ; but the poor birds were too weak from pain and starvation XXXXX do more than utter soft sounds of joy .
across by for in of on though till to with