flying down before him. It was glorious. He felt as if he were
flying; then as if he were having a splendid skate without the slightest
exertion. The bottom of the valley began to fly up to meet him, and he
had some slight consciousness of Dale being close before or behind him,
he could not tell which, for his mind was concentrated upon his descent,
which grew more and more rapid and delightful. Every sense of weariness
was gone, and he was just thinking of lammergeyers in their flight, when
he heard his companions shouting to him, just as he lost his balance and
came down on his side. Then, he lost his alpenstock and directly after
his temper, as he found he was rolling down head first till he gave
himself a tremendous wrench, and contrived to get his feet foremost,
with his heels down in the snow, and by degrees rose into a sitting
position, finishing his descent more deliberately, for fortunately the
slope grew less and less, till he was brought up by the stones at the
foot, and able to look up.

"Hurt?" cried Dale, who came down to him directly after.

"Haven't had time to see yet," said Saxe gruffly. "Here are my trousers
got right up my legs."

"No skin off your knuckles?"

"I think not," said Saxe. "Are you all right? But what did it?"

"You."

"No. There must have been something sticking up out of the enow to
upset me: a piece of rock, I think."

"You'll think differently after a few more tries," said Dale, laughing;
and returned to see how Melchior was getting down with the mule.

They were coming far more gently, the mule having tucked its hind legs
close beneath it, and slid steadily down, while by means of his ice-axe
Melchior regulated his pace to that of the quadruped, till they, too,
were at the bottom.

"Saxe thinks there was a piece of rock sticking out of the snow ready to
upset him," cried Dale.

"Hush! Don't make him laugh at a fellow," said the boy hurriedly.

Melchior smiled.

"It was his first lesson," he said quietly. "Now, there is a clump of
rocks between those two patches of pines, and water and wood in
abundance. Will you have the fire there?"

Half an hour after they were all seated round a crackling fire, well
sheltered on all sides, and with the rock projecting far over their
heads in case of rain. The kettle was singing, the coffee ready, the
rest of the provisions spread, and the mule cropping the grass close by,
never once trying to leave the vicinity of his