am rushes in foam and thunder.
On either hand rises a mountain wall. Within, the pasture is fresh and
green, sprinkled with Alpine roses, and the pale river flows swiftly
down between the rows of dark wooden houses. At the head of the vale
towers the Gross-Venediger, with its glaciers and snow-fields dazzling
white against the deep blue heaven. The murmur of the stream and the
tinkle of the cow-bells and the jodelling of the herdsmen far up the
slopes, make the music for the scene.

The path from Gschloss leads straight up to the foot of the dark pyramid
of the Kesselkopf, and then in steep endless zig-zags along the edge of
the great glacier. I saw, at first, the pinnacles of ice far above me,
breaking over the face of the rock; then, after an hour's breathless
climbing, I could look right into the blue crevasses; and at last,
after another hour over soft snow-fields and broken rocks, I was at the
Pragerhut, perched on the shoulder of the mountain, looking down upon
the huge river of ice.

It was a magnificent view under the clear light of evening. Here in
front of us, the Venediger with all his brother-mountains clustered
about him; behind us, across the Tauern, the mighty chain of the
Glockner against the eastern sky.

This is the frozen world. Here the Winter, driven back into his
stronghold, makes his last stand against the Summer, in perpetual
conflict, retreating by day to the mountain-peak, but creeping back at
night in frost and snow to regain a little of his lost territory, until
at last the Summer is wearied out, and the Winter sweeps down again to
claim the whole valley for his own.

VI.

In the Pragerhut I found mountain comfort. There were bunks along the
wall of the guest-room, with plenty of blankets. There was good store of
eggs, canned meats, and nourishing black bread. The friendly goats came
bleating up to the door at nightfall to be milked. And in charge of
all this luxury there was a cheerful peasant-wife with her brown-eyed
daughter, to entertain travellers. It was a pleasant sight to see them,
as they sat down to their supper with my guide; all three bowed their
heads and said their "grace before meat," the guide repeating the longer
prayer and the mother and daughter coming in with the responses. I went
to bed with a warm and comfortable feeling about my heart. It was a good
ending for the day. In the morning, if the weather remained clear, the
alarm-clock was to wake us at three for t