le, as a
huge Newfoundland dog might regard a large mastiff; "but why is our
proposed excursion to the Jardin to be altered?"

"Because," said the Professor, "your amiable sister--I beg pardon,
cousin--with that irresistible power of suasion which seems inherent in
her nature, has prevailed on Mademoiselle Horetzki to join the party,
and Mademoiselle is too delicate--sylph-like--to endure the fatigues of
so long an excursion over the ice. Our worthy guide suggests that it
would afford more pleasure to the ladies--and of course, therefore, to
the gentlemen--if you were to make your first expedition only to the
Montanvert which is but a two hours' climb from Chamouni, picnic there,
cross the Mer de Glace, which is narrow at that point, and descend again
to Chamouni by the side of the Glacier des Bois, where you can behold
the great moraines, and also the source of the river Arveiron. This
would be a pleasant and not too fatiguing round, and I, who might
perhaps be an encumbrance to you, will prosecute my inquiries at the
Jardin alone."

"Impossible," exclaimed Lewis, "the Captain is right when he observes
that we must not part company. As my mother says, we are a giddy crew,
and will be the better of a little scientific ballast to keep us from
capsizing into a crevasse. Do come, my dear sir, if it were only out of
charity, to keep us in order."

To this entreaty Lawrence and the artist added their persuasions, which
were further backed by the eloquence of Emma Gray and Nita Horetzki, who
entered at the moment radiant with the flush of life's dawning day, and
irresistible in picturesque mountain attire, the chief characteristics
of which consisted in an extensive looping up of drapery, and an
ostentatious display of those staffs called alpenstocks, five feet long,
tipped with chamois horn, which are an indispensable requisite in Alpine
work.

"Oh! you _muss_ go," said Nita, in silvery tones and disjointed English.
"If you go not, monsieur, _I_ go not!"

"That of course decides the question, Mademoiselle," said the gallant
Professor, with one of his blandest smiles, "I shall accompany you with
pleasure. But I have one little request to make. My time at Chamouni
is short; will you permit me, on arriving at the Mer de Glace, to
prosecute my inquiries? I am here to ask questions of Nature, and must
do so with perseverance and patience. Will you allow me to devote more
of my attention to _her_ than to yourself?"