He Said That He Had
Crossed The Nufenen And The Gries Whenever They Could Be Crossed Since
He Was A Child, And That If I Attempted It That Day I Should Sleep
That Night In Paradise.
The clouds on the mountain, the soft snow
recently fallen, the rain that now occupied the valleys, the glacier
on the Gries, and the pathless snow in the mist on the Nufenen would
make it sheer suicide for him, an experienced guide, and for me a
worse madness.
Also he spoke of my boots and wondered at my poor coat
and trousers, and threatened me with intolerable cold.
It seems that the books I had read at home, when they said that the
Nufenen had no snow on it, spoke of a later season of the year; it was
all snow now, and soft snow, and hidden by a full mist in such a day
from the first third of the ascent. As for the Gries, there was a
glacier on the top which needed some kind of clearness in the weather.
Hearing all this I said I would remain - but it was with a heavy heart.
Already I felt a shadow of defeat over me. The loss of time was a
thorn. I was already short of cash, and my next money was Milan. My
return to England was fixed for a certain date, and stronger than
either of these motives against delay was a burning restlessness that
always takes men when they are on the way to great adventures.
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