het, a knife, matches in water-tight cases, and a good bit
of lunch. I'll carry the barometer, Glen shall take charge of the
thermometer, and 'Grip' shall bring along his brains. Now I'd advise you
both to turn in, and lay up a supply of rest sufficient to carry you
through a harder day's work than any we've done on this trip yet."

The sun was just lifting his red face above the distant rim of the
Plains, and its scant beams were bathing the snow-capped peak in a
wonderful rosy glow, as the three mountain climbers left camp the next
morning. Each one bore the light weight allotted to him, and, in
addition, Glen carried a raw-hide lariat hung over his shoulders.

Having noted the compass bearings of their general course, they plunged
directly into the dense fir forest with which this flank of the mountain
was covered to a height of a thousand feet or so above them. For several
hours they struggled through it, sometimes clambering over long lanes of
fallen trees, prostrated by fierce wind-storms, and piled in chaotic
heaps so thickly that often, for half a mile at a time, their feet did
not touch the ground. Then they came to a region of enormous granite
blocks, ten to thirty feet high, over many of which they were obliged to
make their way as best they could. Now they began to find patches of
snow, and the timber only appeared in scattered clumps.

From here their course led up through an enormous gorge, or cleft, that
grew narrower as they ascended, until it terminated in a long, steep
slope of boulders and loose rocks. Here they encountered the first real
danger of the ascent. Every now and then a boulder, that appeared firmly
seated until burdened with the weight of one of them, would give way and
go crashing and thundering down with great leaps behind them until lost
in the forest below.

It was noon when they emerged on a narrow, shelf-like plateau above the
gorge. Here stood the last clump of stunted trees. Above them stretched
the glistening snow-fields, pierced by crags of splintered granite.
Rock, ice, and snow to the very summit. Here Binney said he could go no
farther; and here, after building a fire and eating their lunch, the
others left him to await their return.

A sheer wall of smooth, seamless rock, hundreds of feet in height,
bounded one side of the shelf, and a precipice, almost as sheer, the
other. For half a mile or so did Glen and his companion follow it,
seeking some place at which they might