rds
returned from their winter home, and again burst into joyous song; and
again the budding trees proclaimed that winter was over and gone.

During the dreary winter-time the simple wants of the two mountaineers
had been supplied by much toil and much privation, so that the return of
the vernal season was hailed with joyful acclamation.

[Illustration: WATTY AND HIS FATHER HUNTING.]

"It is time for us to be off now," said the hunter one morning to his
boy; and day after day, whenever the weather was favorable, they might
have been seen climbing the lofty mountain ranges in search of game,
sometimes not returning to their little cottage for several days. At
other times, however, after unspeakable trouble and danger, they would
return home in great glee, the father bearing a large chamois slung
across his shoulders, to be sold for a good price to the landlord of the
inn.

Toni was looked upon by all the country round as the best hunter in the
district, and he was determined to maintain his reputation. By the end
of August, when the summer was approaching its end, he had shot thirty
chamois, and the best of the season was still before him.

"Now, Watty," said he, "we must look out for the winter. We have got on
famously through the fine weather, and have made a little money; but
there's not enough yet for what we require, and we must work away for
some time still before we get as much as will replenish our empty byre."

"I will do all I can to help you, father," replied the boy. "I saw a
track on the Wellhorn yesterday that promises a finer buck than we have
taken yet."

"On the Wellhorn! On which side?"

"On the glacier side, father. It is not so very difficult to get up
there; but I noticed that whenever he was disturbed, the chamois went
across the glacier toward the Engelhorn, and I am afraid it would be
rather dangerous to follow him. There are cracks in the ice hundreds of
feet deep, and how well we know that whoever falls into one of them
would never see the light of day again."

"That is very true," said his father, thoughtfully. "But we must have
the buck at any risk. Do you know the spot on the glacier where he makes
for the Engelhorn?"

"Yes; it is quite at the top, where the ice is spread out like a sea."

"Well, then," said the experienced mountaineer, "we must try and avoid
following the chamois over the ice, and rather wait for him on the
Engelhorn, and get a shot at him as he passes. You must