uietly, as his eyes wandered up the wall-like sides of
the gorge they were in; "but there ought to be rifts and caverns up in
these narrow valleys where I could find what I seek."

"After awhile, herr, after awhile. When we get to the end of this thal
we shall come upon a larger lake. We shall go along one shore of that
to where it empties itself. There is much water in it, for three
glaciers run down toward it. At the other end, beyond the schlucht, we
shall be in the greater valley, between the mountains I pointed to this
morning; and there you will find steeper places than this, wilder and
stranger, where we can camp for to-night, and to-morrow you can choose."

"Very good: I leave it to you; but if we pass anything you think would
be interesting, stop."

They had zigzagged about, and climbed up and up as well as descended, so
that Saxe had quite lost count of the direction.

"Which way are we going now?" he said at last.

"Nearly due south."

"Then that's toward Italy?"

"Yes. As the crow flies we can't be many miles from the border."

"How rum!" said Saxe to himself. Then, aloud, "Over more mountains, I
suppose?"

"Over those and many others beyond them," replied Dale; and then, as
they followed each other in single file, Melchior leading and the mule
close at his heels like a dog, weariness and the heat of the narrow
sun-bathed gorge put an end to conversation, till Saxe noticed that the
waters foaming along far down in the bottom were running in the same
direction as they were going, whereas earlier in the day they met them.

"We are in another valley, going toward a different lake," said Dale, in
answer to a remark; "and look: that must be it. No, no--that way to the
left."

Saxe looked, and saw a gleam of silver between two nearly perpendicular
walls; and half an hour afterwards they were traversing a narrow ledge
running some few feet above the dark blue waters of a lake shut in
apparently on all sides by similar walls of rock, which it would have
been impossible to scale.

"The herr will be careful along here," said Melchior, pausing for a
minute at a slightly wider part of the shelf to let the mule pass him.
"Shall we have the rope!"

"What do you say, Saxe?" said Dale. "If it is no narrower than this, I
think we can keep our heads."

"Oh, I can manage," said Saxe. "Besides, if one fell, it is only into
the water. Is it deep, Melchior?"

"Hundreds of feet, I think," said the guid