AN ASCENT OF THE MATTERHORN. 225 



Our invalid was better in the morning, but cold, 

 disgusted, and impatient. His swollen eyelids each 

 looked like a ripe plum. He said that he could 

 not open his eyes. I told him to lie still and keep 

 them shut then, — a remark which he thought 

 peculiarly unfeeling. We decided to send this 

 Knight of the Sorrowful Figure with John and Vic- 

 tor down to Zermatt, while Spangler and I would 

 wait and play '* mumble-the-peg " until their return, 

 which might be next day and might be — never ! 

 Not a cheerful prospect; but, as the jester said 

 in the woods of Arden, '' Travellers must be 

 contented." 



Before they had fairly started, however, we 

 heard shouting from below; and soon the two 

 guides Bic reached us from the lower cabin, in 

 which they had spent the night. We therefore 

 again moved on, but very slowly. The new-fallen 

 snow made the walking very difficult, and much 

 sitting down in slippery places reduced our cloth- 

 ing to a total wreck, concerning which the less 

 said the better. There were many " mauvais pas ; " 

 but we passed them all at last, and towards noon 

 we reached the lower cabin. The doctor from 

 Zermatt was there, and also four able-bodied ruf- 

 fians bearing a sedan-chair. We were now safe 

 at last; and after another drink around of choco- 

 late, — there was nothing else left, — we started 

 for Zermatt. 



Our welcome in the village was most enthusi- 

 astic. Everybody — English, German, French — 

 was delighted to see us, and the " Matterhorn- 

 besteiger" were the heroes of the hour. In the 



IS 



