"Don't go so near to the mule's heels: if he kicks you, nothing could
save you from a fall into the lake."

"That's imagination, sir," said Saxe, laughing; "and imagination is
something all mountaineers should leave behind."

Dale frowned, but laughed directly after.

"Pert, but smart, Saxe," he said. "Seriously, though, a mountain
climber, who must naturally be often walking along risky places, has
enough to think about without indulging in fancies of what might be if
this happened or that took place. Such thoughts may unnerve him; and
you may depend upon it, some of the bravest things are done by those who
think the least. I remember, one day in London, seeing the men taking
down one of those vast scaffolds formed, not of poles, but of square
timbers bolted together; and I saw one man, about a hundred and fifty
feet from the ground, standing on one of these pieces of timber, which
was fastened to an upright at each end. He was looking on while another
workman unscrewed one of the bolts which held it."

"How wide was it?" said Saxe, looking down at the narrow shelf of rock
upon which he was walking.

"About ten inches, I suppose. There was nothing near him, for he was on
the very top of the scaffolding, which swayed a little with the weight
of the wood; but he seemed perfectly cool and comfortable up there, and
after a few minutes he turned and walked along it to the other end,
while I, who have often gone along dangerous ledges of ice, felt my
hands turn wet inside."

"With fright?"

"Call it nervousness," said Dale. "No: call it fear or fright. Of
course I imagined that at any moment the poor fellow might turn giddy
and fall. But if that beam had been lying on the pavement, any one
would have walked or run along it without hesitation, for there is no
question of balancing on a piece of flat wood ten inches wide. The
imagination is the danger."

"Then sailors can't have any imagination," said Saxe thoughtfully.

"It is to be hoped not, of that kind. If they ever thought of falling,
they would never be able to run along the yards of a big ship as they
do."

"Well, I'll try and not have any imagination," said Saxe. "I shouldn't
like you to say you wished that you had not brought me, for you could
not go anywhere you wanted because I was such a coward."

"I trust to you to be neither cowardly nor rash," said Dale, "and you
may trust to me not to take you into more dangerous places than I can
he