nout of the glacier. It was bad
going, for the snow concealed the boulders, and I often floundered in
holes. Wake never relaxed his stride, but now and then he stopped to
sniff the air.

I observed that the weather looked good, and he differed. 'It's too
clear. There'll be a full-blown gale on the Col and most likely snow in
the afternoon.' He pointed to a fat yellow cloud that was beginning to
bulge over the nearest peak. After that I thought he lengthened his
stride.

'Lucky I had these boots resoled and nailed at Chiavagno,' was the only
other remark he made till we had passed the seracs of the main glacier
and turned up the lesser ice-stream from the Colle delle Rondini.

By half-past ten we were near its head, and I could see clearly the
ribbon of pure ice between black crags too steep for snow to lie on,
which was the means of ascent to the Col. The sky had clouded over, and
ugly streamers floated on the high slopes. We tied on the rope at the
foot of the bergschrund, which was easy to pass because of the winter's
snow. Wake led, of course, and presently we came on to the icefall.

In my time I had done a lot of scrambling on rocks and used to promise
myself a season in the Alps to test myself on the big peaks. If I ever
go it will be to climb the honest rock towers around Chamonix, for I
won't have anything to do with snow mountains. That day on the Colle
delle Rondini fairly sickened me of ice. I daresay I might have liked
it if I had done it in a holiday mood, at leisure and in good spirits.
But to crawl up that couloir with a sick heart and a desperate impulse
to hurry was the worst sort of nightmare. The place was as steep as a
wall of smooth black ice that seemed hard as granite. Wake did the
step-cutting, and I admired him enormously. He did not seem to use much
force, but every step was hewn cleanly the right size, and they were
spaced the right distance. In this job he was the true professional. I
was thankful Blenkiron was not with us, for the thing would have given
a squirrel vertigo. The chips of ice slithered between my legs and I
could watch them till they brought up just above the bergschrund.

The ice was in shadow and it was bitterly cold. As we crawled up I had
not the exercise of using the axe to warm me, and I got very numb
standing on one leg waiting for the next step. Worse still, my legs
began to cramp. I was in good condition, but that time under Ivery's
rack had played the mischief wi