th Bower and
herself from an awkward situation she took a keen interest in Barth's
method of adjusting the rope. The man did not show any amazement at
Bower's order. He was there to earn his fee. Had these mad English
told him to cut steps up the gentle slope in front he would have
obeyed without protest, though it was more than strange that this much
traveled _voyageur_ should adopt such a needless precaution.

As a matter of fact, under Barth's guidance, a blind cripple could
have surmounted the first kilometer of the Forno glacier. The track
lay close to the left bank of the moraine. It curved slightly to the
right and soon the exquisite panorama of Monte Roseg, the Cima di
Rosso, Monte Sissone, Piz Torrone, and the Castello group opened up
before the climbers. Helen was enchanted. Twice she half turned to
address some question to Bower; but on each occasion she happened to
catch him in the act of swallowing some brandy from a flask. Governed
by an unaccountable timidity, she pretended not to notice his
actions, and diverted her words to Barth, who told her the names of
the peaks and pointed to the junctions of minor ice fields with the
main artery of the Forno.

Bower did not utter a syllable until they struck out toward the center
of the glacier. A crevasse some ten feet in width and seemingly
hundreds of feet deep, barred the way; but a bridge of ice, covered
with snow, offered safe transit. The snow carpet showed that a number
of climbers had passed quite recently in both directions. Even Helen,
somewhat awed by the dimensions of the rift, understood that the
existence of this natural arch was as well recognized by Alpinists as
Waterloo Bridge is known to dwellers on the south side of the Thames.

"Now, Miss Wynton, you should experience your first real thrill," said
Bower. "This bridge forms here every year at this season, and an army
might cross in safety. It is the genuine article, the first and
strongest of a series. Yet here you cross the Rubicon. A mixture of
metaphors is allowable in high altitudes, you know."

Helen, almost startled at first by the unaffected naturalness of his
words, was unfeignedly relieved at finding him restored to the normal.
Usually his supply of light-hearted badinage was unceasing. He knew
exactly when and how to season it with more serious statements. It is
this rare quality that makes tolerable a long day's solitude _a deux_.

[Illustration: She flourished her ice axe brav