mself in preparing coffee for the
party.

"And such a growler, too, when any one touches you," observed Slingsby,
buttoning on his leggings.

"Sleeper! growler!" groaned Lewis, "you've only given me five minutes in
which to sleep or growl."

"Ah, the happy obliviousness of youth!" said the Professor, assisting
one of the porters to strap up the scientific instruments, "you have
been asleep four hours at least. It is now past one. We must start in
less than an hour, so bestir yourself--and pray, Dr Lawrence, make
haste with that coffee."

The doctor was by no means slow in his operations, but the difficulties
in his way delayed him. At such a height, and in such a frozen region,
the only mode of procuring water was to place a panful of snow on the
fire; and, no matter how full the pan might be stuffed with it, this
snow, when melted, was reduced to only a very small quantity of water;
more snow had, therefore, to be added and melted, so that much time was
spent before the boiling point was reached. Patience, however, was at
last rewarded with a steaming draught, which, with bread and ham, did
more than fire towards warming their chill bodies.

Outside, the scene was still exquisitely calm and beautiful. The stars
appeared to have gathered fresh brilliancy and to have increased in
number during the night. Those of them near the horizon, as the
Professor pointed out, twinkled energetically, as if they had just
risen, and, like Lewis, were sleepy, while those in the zenith shone
with steady lustre, as if particularly wide awake to the doings of the
presumptuous men who were climbing so much nearer than usual to their
habitation in the sky. One star in particular gleamed with a sheen that
was pre-eminently glorious--now it was ruby red, now metallic blue, anon
emerald green. Of course, no sunlight would tinge the horizon for
several hours, but the bright moon, which had just risen, rolled floods
of silver over the snowy wastes, rendering unnecessary the lantern which
had been provided to illumine their upward path.

The party, having been tied together with a rope as on the previous day,
set forth in line over the snow, each following the other, and soon they
were doing battle with the deep crevasses. The nature of the ice
varied, of course, with the form of the mountain, sometimes presenting
rugged and difficult places, in which, as the Captain put it, they got
among breakers and had to steer with caution, a