open my
mouth widely and gasp the cold, rarefied air, which, it seemed, would
not fill my chest with the needed oxygen. Sharp pains shot through my
lungs, especially in the extremities far down in the chest; my head and
eye-balls ached, and it seemed sometimes as if they would burst; my
limbs trembled with weakness, and I tottered and reeled like a drunken
man from side to side of the road, having to watch carefully lest I
might topple over the edge and meet with a serious accident. Still that
relentless track, with its quartette of steel rails, stretched steep
before me in the distance.

For the last half mile or more I was compelled to fling myself down upon
the track every few rods to rest and recover breath. Up, up, the road
climbed, until at length I reached the point where it ceases to swing
around the shoulders of the mountain, and ascends directly to the
summit. Here was the steepest climb of all. By throwing my weary frame
on the track at frequent intervals and resting for five minutes, taking
deep draughts of air between my parched lips, I at last came in sight of
the government building. It is neither a mansion nor a palace, not even
a cottage, but never before was I so glad to get a glimpse of a building
erected by human hands. It was past nine o'clock when I staggered up to
the door and rang the night bell, having spent more than three hours and
a half in climbing about two miles and a half. Too weary to sleep, I
tossed for hours on my bed. At last, however, "nature's sweet restorer"
came to my relief, and I slept the deep sleep of unconsciousness until
seven o'clock the next morning, allowing the sun to rise upon the Peak
without getting up to greet him. That omission may have been an
unpardonable sin, for one of the chief fads of visitors is to see the
sun rise from the Peak; but I must say in my defence that, in the first
place, I failed to wake up in time to witness the Day King's advent,
and, in a second place, being on bird lore intent rather than scenic
wonders, my principal need was to recruit my strength for the tramping
to be done during the day. The sequel proved that, for my special
purpose, I had chosen the wiser course.

By eight o'clock I had written a letter home, eaten a refreshing
breakfast, paying a dollar for it, and another for lodging, and was
starting down the mountain, surprised at the exhilaration I felt, in
view of my extreme exhaustion of the evening before. I naturally
expected