ck to the path again by another.

CHAPTER VIII.

SEEING MONT BLANC GO OUT.

"Father," said Rollo to Mr. Holiday, at dinner one day, "what are you
going to do this evening?"

"We are going to see Mont Blanc go out," said his father.

Mr. Holiday answered Rollo in French, using a phrase very common in
Geneva to denote the gradual fading away of the rosy light left upon
Mont Blanc by the setting sun; for the sun, just at the time of its
setting, gilds the mountain with a peculiar rosy light, as if it were a
cloud. This light gradually fades away as the sun goes down, until the
lower part of the mountain becomes of a dead and ghostly white, while
the roseate hue still lingers on the summit, as if the top of the
mountain were tipped with flame. These last beams finally disappear, and
then the whole expanse of snow assumes a deathlike and wintry whiteness.
The inhabitants of Geneva, and those who live in the environs, often go
out to their gardens and summer houses in the summer evenings, just as
the sun is going down, to see, as they express it, Mont Blanc go out;[E]
and strangers who visit Geneva always desire, if they can, to witness
the spectacle. There are, however, not a great many evenings in the year
when it can be witnessed to advantage, the mountain is so often
enveloped in clouds.

[Footnote E: The phrase is, in French, _Pour voir le Mont Blanc
s'eteindre_.]

Rollo had heard the phrase before, and he knew very well what his father
meant.

"Well," said he, in a tone of satisfaction; "and may I go too?"

"Yes," said his father; "we should like to have you go very much. But
there is a question to be decided--how we shall go. The best point of
view is somewhere on the shore along the lake, on the other side of the
bridge. There are three ways of going. We can walk across the bridge,
and then follow the road along the shore till we come to a good place,
or we can take a carriage, and order the coachman to drive out any where
into the neighborhood, where there is a good view of the mountain, or we
can go in a boat."

"In a boat, father!" said Rollo, eagerly. "Let us go in a boat!"

"The objection to that," said Mr. Holiday, "is, that it is more trouble
to go and engage a boat. There are plenty of carriages here at the very
door, and I can have one at a moment's notice, by just holding up my
finger."

"And, father," said Rollo, "so there are plenty of boats right down here
by the quay, and I can ge