rather mechanically, as if yielding to a sort of
involuntary impulse. As yet they had not examined the ice-chasm very
minutely.

Awed by the terror of the glacier slide, they had retreated from the
spot in haste. One glance at the crevasse was all they had given; but
in that glance they had perceived the impossibility of crossing it. At
the time, however, they were not aware of the resources that were so
near. They were not aware that within less than five hundred yards of
the spot grew a forest of tall trees. Indeed, it was not until they had
fully reconnoitred the cliffs, and turned away from them in despair,
that such a train of reasoning occurred to tha mind of any of the three.

As they were entering the portals of that singular passage, the thought
seemed for the first time to have taken shape. Karl was the first to
give expression to it. Suddenly halting, he pointed back to the forest,
and said,--

"If we could bridge it!"

Neither of his companions asked him what he contemplated bridging. Both
were at that moment busy with the same train of thought. They knew it
was the crevasse.

"Those pine-trees are tall," said Caspar.

"Not tall enough, Sahib," rejoined the shikarree.

"We can splice them," continued Caspar.

Ossaroo shook his head, but said nothing in reply.

The idea, however, had begotten new hopes; and all three walked down the
ravine with brisker steps. They scanned the cliffs on either side as
they advanced, but these they had examined before.

Treading with caution they approached the edge of the crevasse. They
looked across. A hundred feet wide--perhaps more than a hundred feet--
yawned that fearful gulf. They knelt down and gazed into the chasm. It
opened far away into the earth--hundreds of feet below where they knelt.
It narrowed towards the bottom. They could see the crystal cliffs,
blue at the top, grow greener and darker as they converged towards each
other. They could see huge boulders of rock and masses of icy snow
wedged between them, and could hear far below the roaring of water. A
torrent ran there--no doubt the superfluous waters of the lake escaping
by this subglacial stream.

A sublime, but terrible sight it was; and although the nerves of all
were strung to an extreme degree, it made them giddy to look into the
chasm, and horrid feelings came over them as they listened to the
unnatural echoes of their voices. To have descended to the bottom would
have b