chief flag at the
rock-corner up there."

Virginia took the alpenstock which she had laid down, and began
picking her way daintily yet pluckily toward the _col_ which she had
named as her goal. There was another route to it, leading on to the
highest peak of the Schneehorn, only to be dared by experienced
climbers, but the way by which the girl and her companion had set out
from Alleheiligen nearly four hours ago, was merely fatiguing, never
dangerous, and Virginia knew that Miss Portman was safe, and not half
as much frightened as she pretended.

They had started at eight, just as the September sun had begun to draw
the night chill out of the keen mountain air; and now it was close
upon twelve. The Princess was hungry.

In Nordeck, the frontier town of Rhaetia as you come in from Germany,
she had bought ruecksacks for herself and Miss Portman, to be used upon
just such mountain excursions as this; and to-day the brown canvas
bags were being tested for the first time. Each ruecksack stored an
adequate luncheon for its bearer, while on top, secured by straps
passed across the shoulders, lay a folded wrap to be used in case of
rain.

Virginia's burden grew heavy as she mounted, though at first its
weight had seemed trifling. When she had waved her handkerchief at the
turning, and passed out of Miss Portman's sight, it occurred to her
that it would be clever to lighten the ruecksack and satisfy her
appetite at the same time.

The one difficulty was that, in her present position, she could not
safely unstrap the bag from her shoulders, open it, take out the
parcel of luncheon, and strap it on again. The way was too narrow, and
the rocks too slippery, to attempt such liberties; at a short
distance, however, and only a little out of the path to the _col_, she
could see a small green plateau, the very place for a rest. But could
she reach it? The girl stood still, and looked wistfully across.

The place could be gained only by a scramble over a ledge of
formidable rocks, and climbing in good earnest here and there, yet--if
the thing could be done at all, it could be done in ten minutes, and
to come back would be comparatively easy. Virginia was tempted.

"The dear Letitia will be eating her own lunch by this time, and won't
miss me if my half hour is a long one," she thought. "And anyway, I
said half an hour or _so_. That means almost anything, when it comes
to an argument."

Another moment, and the girl had started