that which was nearest him--sad, dispirited, forlorn.

There sate they, with eyes now fixed upon the ground, now turning
towards the cliff and gazing mechanically upon that serried line, like
the stairway of some gigantic spider--those long ladders, planted with
so much pains, climbed only once, and never to be climbed again!

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.

AN EMPTY LARDER.

Long sat they in this attitude, all three, observing a profound silence.
The air was keenly cold, for it was now mid-winter, but none of them
seemed to feel the cold. The deep disappointment, the bitter chagrin
that filled their minds, hindered them from perceiving bodily pain; and
at that moment had an avalanche threatened to slide down upon them from
the snowy summit above, not one of the three would have much cared to
escape out of its way.

So tired had they become of their aerial prison--so terrified by the
prospect of its continuing for ever--or at least as long as they might
live--they could have contemplated even death without additional terror.

The straw, to which they had so long and so fondly clung, was snatched
from their grasp. Again were they drowning.

For nearly an hour sat they thus, moody and desponding. The
purple-coloured tints, that began to play over the surface of the
eternal snows above, admonished them that the sun was far down in the
heavens, and that night was approaching.

Karl was the first to become conscious of this--the first to break
silence.

"Oh, brothers!" said he, under the impress of their common misfortune
including Ossaroo in the fraternal appellation. "Come away! It is
useless to stay longer here. Let us go home!"

"Home!" repeated Caspar, with a melancholy smile. "Ah! Karl, I wish
you had not spoken the word. So sweet at other times, it now rings in
my ears like some unearthly echo. Home, indeed! Alas, dear brother! we
shall ne'er go home."

To this pathetic speech Karl made no reply. He could offer no word of
hope or consolation; and therefore remained silent. He had already
risen to his feet--the others following his example--and all three
walked moodily away from the spot, taking the most direct route towards
their rude dwelling, which now more than ever they had reason to regard
as their _home_.

On reaching the hut they found still another cause of inquietude. Their
stock of provisions, which had survived the destructive onset of the
elephant, had been economised with great car