together; and so much the better for us."

"Why?" asked Marcus.

"Because we've got such a narrow front to defend. Why, you know what a
scrap of road there was where the captain halted his men."

"Yes," said Marcus; "just like a gash cut through the rock."

"That's right," said the old soldier. "Well, a line of twenty men would
have been sufficient to guard that bit."

"More than enough," said Marcus.

"Right, boy. Well, he has got six or seven hundred there, and no army
that the enemy can bring up can drive our men from that stronghold.
There are only two things that can master them."

"What are they?" said Marcus, anxiously.

"Cold and hunger."

"Ah!" sighed Marcus.

"There, don't groan like that, boy," cried the old soldier, sharply.
"It sounded as if you hadn't had anything to eat for a week, and I'm
sure you're not cold."

"Then you're wrong," cried Marcus, "for I am bitterly cold."

"That shows you haven't worked hard enough. Come on and let's get
behind the chariot and help the horses with a push."

"Yes, presently," said Marcus, as he glanced at the brave little beasts,
which looked hot in spite of the fact that a chilly wind was blowing
down the gorge, and that they were standing up to their knees in snow.
"I'm a bit out of breath too."

"Don't talk, then, boy," growled Serge. "Save your wind."

"But I want to talk," continued Marcus. "You've been over this pass
before?"

"Nay, not this one, boy, but one like it farther east."

"Like this? But was it so strange?"

"What do you mean by strange, my lad?"

"Why, for us to be going to rest last night with the country all round
seeming to be in summer, while as we've come along to-day we've got into
autumn, and now we're going right into the depth of winter."

"Yes, my lad, but it's summer all the same. It's only because we're so
high up, same as you used to see it at home when you looked up towards
the mountains and saw them covered with snow."

"But this doesn't look like snow, Serge," said the boy, kicking up the
icy particles. "It is more like piled-up heaps of hail after a heavy
storm. Ugh! It does look winterly! Ice and snow everywhere, and not a
green thing to be seen."

"All the more reason, boy, why we should push on, get over the highest
bit, and then every step we take will be for the better."

"Shall we be out of this cutting icy wind that comes roaring up between
these two great walls of rock?"

"To be sure we