You will
see, when you get amongst them, what a savage scene they present.
In summer it is none so bad; but we are yet in the grip of winter,
and though the foothold is harder and better on the ice slopes, the
cold is keen and cruel, and the snowfalls frequent and dangerous."
"And the horses, my lord?"
"Those we must needs leave behind us for a while, Tom. I do not say
that we could not get them over, for, methinks, Hannibal must needs
have brought his horsemen across in days of yore, and where any
other horse has been, there could Lucifer and Nell Gwynne travel.
But I fear the poor beasts would suffer sorely; and I misdoubt me
if they would not be more care than use to us. They have done their
work gallantly, so far; and they will take us back as gallantly, I
doubt not, when our task is done. Meantime, I know a pleasant and
sheltered valley, where dwell some honest folk with whom I tarried
in bygone days, to heal me of a fever I had caught in the hot
Italian plains. There we will leave them; and there, Tom, if we
lose sight of each other, will we meet when our appointed tasks be
done.
"There are two places where we may find a safe asylum in this wild
land. One is the valley to which we are now bending our steps,
which nestles not far from the foot of the great mountain men call
the St.
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