ADVENT OF A STORM. 181 



storm, and had lowered it without any satisfactory 

 results, when my eyes met Fred's, and I read in 

 their expression that embarrassment which even 

 the bravest are apt to feel when suddenly hemmed 

 in by perils. The Doctor, too, looked very serious 

 and anxious, whilst the countenances of our native 

 followers betrayed intense terror. We were in 

 an awkward position, and my companions evidently 

 looked to me to get them out of it. On every 

 side dangers lurked, and for a moment I felt 

 undecided how to act, weighing the consequences 

 of each step and calculating the chances. The odds 

 were decidedly against us. If we remained in the 

 centre of the glacier we should be exposed to the 

 whole force of the hurricane, and in all probability 

 be swept away before it into one of the numerous 

 yawning chasms or crevasses; if we took refuge 

 from the storm amongst the lateral mountains, we 

 ran great danger of being buried alive, killed, or 

 maimed by the avalanches or landslips that were 

 continually falling. Again, the strange rumbling 

 noises that issued from the glacier, portended no 

 good, and on every side the ice heavea, trembled, 



