e of the dark rock. But perhaps I'm
boring you with these particulars."

Lucy gave Foster a meaning glance and he said, "No; I want to
understand the thing."

"It was awkward to reach the _coulee_, because the glacier was badly
crevassed, but we got there. The gully was nearly precipitous; a
narrow trough that serves as a rubbish shoot for the mountain when the
thaw splits the rocks. I expect it's ground smooth in summer, but it
was filled with hard, slippery snow. We stopped again and studied it,
and I felt doubtful I about taking Lucy up, but she didn't want to go
back. Walters took my view and said we'd all go back, but he looked
disappointed and Lucy wouldn't agree."

"I lost my temper," Lucy admitted. "I never liked Walters and when he
supported Lawrence I got obstinate. Besides, I thought he really
wanted to get rid of me."

"Anyhow, we decided that one guide should take Lucy back down the
glacier."

"Walters decided," Lucy objected. "It's important, Mr. Foster, that he
chose the guide. Be careful how you tell the rest, Lawrence."

"He said she must take the best man, and one laughed and said that if
we meant to get up we'd better stick to him. Walters, however, sent
this fellow off with Lucy, and then we fastened on the rope and began
to climb. We got up perhaps a hundred feet by kicking steps in the
snow, but that's a tiring job for the leader, and when he found a crack
in the wall, where we could stop, the guide had had enough."

"Why was it necessary to find a crack?" Foster asked.

"One couldn't stand on the snow, and if we had tried to sit on it, we'd
have shot down to the bottom; for the most part, the walls were ground
smooth. When you go up a place like that, the leader kicks a little
hole as high as he can in front, and then stands in it while he makes
another. The rest put their feet in the holes as they follow. Well,
when we set off again I went first and had to use my ax because the
snow had hardened into ice, I soon found out I hadn't quite got better,
and was forced to stop when we were nearly half-way up. We lay down,
with our toes in the nicks, to rest, and I slid my flask down to
Walters when I'd had a drink. It was a big flask, and I'd got it
filled with brandy. I thought the guide took a remarkably long drink,
but he looked steady when he crawled up to take my place.

"After that it was very slow work and we were glad when we found a knob
of rock sticking out of the