brought the blood tingling to our cheeks.

At last we reached the summit. And oh! the joy of achievement.

All Rubicon ridge and its neighbors, as far as the eye could
see, were white with snow; the lakes in the valley below
were still frozen--only one showing any blue. Clouds came up
rapidly from the west, rushed by to the Nevada side where
they piled up in great cumulous heaps. The apex of Pyramid was
cloud-capped all day. Shifting gusts drove the waters of
Tahoe scurrying first this way, then that. Where in the early
morning every tree had viewed her image among the reflected
tints of sunrise, at ten-thirty white-caps flashed and
disappeared to flash in a different place among the
everchanging eddies. Cascade and Fallen Leaf Lakes presented
a continuous procession of white-caps to the east, while Eagle
lay black and sinister in the shadow of Maggie's Peaks.

After lunch, the wind blowing too cold for comfort, we started
home, straight down--over snow, granite and underbrush--till
we hit the State Highway. Here we found a sheltered place by a
creek and talked over the day's happenings.

Along the roadside we drew up a resolution on the satisfaction
of the trip. The girl who had been cold all day didn't ever
want to see snow again, but already the others were discussing
a possible ascent from the Eagle Creek side--so great is the
lure of the high places.

CHAPTER XXII

AL-TAHOE

Al-Tahoe, four miles east of Tallac, is one of the newer, better and
more fashionable and pretentious resorts recently established at the
south end of the Lake. Its projectors saw the increasing demand for
summer residences on the Lake, and realizing to the full the superior
advantages of this location, they divided their large holding into
suitable villa and bungalow sites, and other lots, and readily
disposed of a number of them to those who were ready to build. To
further the colonizing plans of these chosen and selected purchasers
a fine, modern, well-equipped hotel was erected, replete with every
convenience and luxury that progressive Americans now expect and
demand in their chosen resorts. The result is quite a settlement
has grown up, and Al-Tahoe sees ahead an era of rapid growth and
prosperity. Its homes are substantial and beautiful and indicate that
John LeConte's prophecy, elsewhere quoted, is already coming to pass.
Pas