my guides a hesitation not difficult to understand on the part of men
who feared the burden of a great responsibility. They made another
effort to shake my resolution. They showed me a black tablet attached to
the wall of the church which crowns the heights:--

AIME MUNON, MIN. DU S. EV.
TOMBA DANS UN GOUFFRE
DE LA MER DE GLACE.
ICI REPOSE SON CORPS,
RETIRE DE L'ABIME.

"I said to Pierre, after glancing at this pathetic inscription, 'The
soul of this young man rests in peace in the bosom of the Everlasting.
As for us, we shall soon return here to give thanks to God.'

"'Good!' replied Pierre; 'that is to say, nothing will make you draw
back.'

"He rejoined his companions, and I went to shut myself up in my chamber.

"The deep solitude around me had in it something of solemnity. Before my
eyes the Wetterhorn raised its scarped acclivities; to the right, the
masses of the Eiger, to the left, the huge Scheideck and the Faulhorn.
Those gloomy mountains which surrounded me, that tranquillity troubled
only by the rash of the torrent in the valley and by an occasional
avalanche, all this was truly majestic, and I felt as if transported
into a world where all things were unlike what I had seen before. My
mind had seldom enjoyed a calm so complete.

"I had not the patience to wait for morning. Before it appeared, I was
on foot. I breakfasted in haste, and assumed my masculine dress, to
which I found it difficult to grow accustomed. I was conscious of my
awkwardness, and it embarrassed all my movements. I summoned Pierre, and
asked him if I could by any means be conveyed as far as the valley. He
sent, to my great satisfaction, for a sedan-chair. Meanwhile, I
exercised myself by walking up and down my room, for I feared the guides
would despair of me if they saw me stumble at every step. I was
profoundly humiliated, and only weighty reasons prevented me from
resuming my woman's dress. At last I bethought myself of an expedient. I
made a parcel of my silk petticoat and my boots (_brodequins_), and gave
it to a porter, so that I might resort to them if I should be completely
paralyzed by those accursed garments which I found so inconvenient.

"We had to wait until eight o'clock before taking our departure. The sun
then made its appearance, and the mountains gradually threw off their
canopy of mist. Having wrapped myself in a great plaid, I took my seat
in the sedan-chair and started,