. You see the snow and ice over yonder?"

"Yes."

"Well, of course that means that there is constant freezing going on
there, except when the sun is blazing down at midday."

"Yes, I understand that," said Saxe.

"Well, the rock gets its veins charged with water from the melting of
the snow in the daytime, and at night it freezes again; the water
expands in freezing, and splits the rock away, but it does not slip,
because it is kept in position by the ice. By-and-by, on an extra hot
day, that ice melts, and, there being nothing to support it, the mass of
rock falls, and drives more with it, perhaps, and the whole comes
thundering down."

"I should like to see how big the piece was," said Saxe; "it must have
been close here."

"No," said the guide; "perhaps two miles away."

Dale made a sign, and they went on again.

"Wait a bit, Saxe, and you'll see plenty of falling rock. I dare say we
shall be cannonaded by stones some day."

"But shall we see an avalanche!"

"It's a great chance if we see one of the great falls which fill valleys
and bury villages; but if you keep your eyes open I dare say we shall
see several small ones to-day."

The lad glanced quickly up, and the meaning of that look was read
directly.

"No," said Dale quietly, "I am not joking, but speaking frankly to one
whom I have chosen as my companion in this enterprise. Come, Saxe, you
and I must now be more like helpmates--I mean, less of man and boy, more
like two men who trust each other."

"I shall be very glad," said the boy eagerly.

"Then we start so from this moment. We'll forget you are only sixteen
or seventeen."

"Nearly seventeen."

"Yes. For, without being gloomy, we must be serious. As Melchior says,
`the mountains are solemn in their greatness.' Look!"

They had just turned the corner of a huge buttress of rock, and Dale
pointed up the valley to the wonderful panorama of mountain and glacier
which suddenly burst upon their view. Snowy peak rising behind green
alps dotted with cattle, and beyond the glittering peak other pyramids
and spires of ice with cols and hollows full of unsullied snow, like
huge waves suddenly frozen, with their ridges, ripples, and curves
preserved.

"It is grand!" cried the boy, gazing excitedly before him at the most
wondrous picture that had ever met his eyes.

"Yes," said Dale; "and it has the advantage that every step we take
brings us to something grander. That is only your fir