eavy dew would have done.

"Although it was only two in the afternoon, the sky became clouded over
as if darkness was coming on; and I foresaw a heavy storm was about to
break over my head.

"I consequently began looking about for shelter, and I saw through one
of those wide openings which afford you a perspective view of the Alps,
about two or three hundred yards distant on the slope leading down to
the lake, an ancient-looking grey chalet, moss-covered, with its small
round windows and sloping roof loaded with large stones, its stairs
outside the house, with a carved rail, and its basket-shaped balcony,
on which the Swiss maidens generally hang their snowy linen and
scarlet petticoats to dry.

"Precisely as I was looking down, a tall woman in a black cap was folding
and collecting the linen which was blowing about in the wind.

"To the left of this building a very large apiary supported on beams,
arranged like a balcony, formed a projection above the valley.

"You may easily believe that without the loss of a moment I set off
bounding through the heather to seek for shelter from the coming storm,
and well it was I lost no time, for I had hardly laid my hand on the
handle of the door before the hurricane burst furiously overhead; every
gust of wind seemed about to carry the cottage bodily away; but its
foundations were strong, and the security of the good people within,
by the warmth of their reception, completely reassured me about the
probability of any accident.

"The cottage was inhabited by Walter Young, his wife Catherine, and
little Raesel, their only daughter.

"I remained three days with them; for the wind, which went down about
midnight, had so filled the valley of Neufchatel with mist, that the
mountain where I had taken refuge was completely enveloped in it; it was
impossible to walk twenty yards from the door without experiencing great
difficulty in finding it again.

"Every morning these good people would say, when they saw me buckle on my
knapsack--

"'What are you about, Mr. Hennetius? You cannot mean to go yet; you will
never arrive anywhere. In the name of Heaven stay here a little longer!'

"And Young would open the door and exclaim--

"'Look there, sir; you must be tired of your life to risk it among these
rocks. Why, the dove itself would be troubled to find the ark again in
such a mist as this.'

"One glance at the mountain side was enough for me to make up my mind to
put my stick b