ely.
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"I am not Caesar's wife," she replied; "but for the credit of womankind
in general I shall act as though I was above suspicion--of
nervousness."

She did not look round. Barth was moving quickly, and she had no
desire to burden him with a drag on the rope. When she was in the
center of the narrow causeway, a snow cornice in the lip of the
crevasse detached itself under the growing heat of the sun and
shivered down into the green darkness. The incident brought her heart
into her mouth. It served as a reminder that this solid ice river was
really in a state of constant change and movement.

Bower laughed, with all his customary gayety of manner. "That came at
a dramatic moment," he said. "Too bad it could not let you pass
without giving you a quake!"

"I am not a bit afraid."

"Ah, but I can read your thoughts. There is a bond of sympathy between
us."

"Hemp is a non-conductor."

"You are willfully misunderstanding me," he retorted.

"No. I honestly believed you felt the rope quiver a little."

"Alas! it is the atmosphere. My compliments fall on idle ears."

Barth interrupted this play of harmless chaff by jerking some remark
over his shoulder. "Looks like a _guxe_," he said gruffly.

"Nonsense!" said Bower,--"a bank of mist. The sun will soon melt it."

"It's a _guxe_, right enough," chimed in Karl, who had recovered his
power of speech. "That is why the boy was blowing his horn--to show he
was bringing the cattle home."

"Well, then, push on. The sooner we are in the hut the better."

"Please, what is a _guxe_?" asked Helen, when the men had nothing more
to say.

"A word I would have wished to add later to your Alpine phrase book.
It means a storm, a blizzard."

"Should we not return at once in that event?"

"What? Who said just now she was not afraid?"

"But a storm in such a place!"

"These fellows smell a _tourmente_ in every little cloud from the
southwest. We may have some wind and a light snowfall, and that will
be an experience for you. Surely you can trust me not to run any real
risk?"

"Oh, yes. I do, indeed. But I have read of people being caught in
these storms and suffering terribly."

"Not on the Forno, I assure you. I don't wish to minimize the perils
of your first ascent; but it is only fair to say that this is an
exhibition glacier. If it was nearer town you would find an orchestra
in each amphitheater up there, with sideshows i