322 AVILD SPAIN. 



her — Benifll, they asserted, was safe enough ; he had 

 been caught in those scudding snow-clouds, and, as many a 

 belated herdsman had done before, had sought shelter for 

 the night in some cave or crevice, awaiting the return of 

 daylight before attempting the descent. Had he, as was 

 l^robable, succeeded in shooting an ibex, it was natural 

 that with such a burden he would find himself unable to 

 return in the short winter's day. With these and similar 

 assurances' poor Concha was fain to console herself. 



Before midnight the threatened storm burst : the gale 

 howled through the gorges of the sierra and along the 

 narrow street of Valdama. Thickly, too, fell the snow ; 

 before dawn the whole landscape lay enveloped in the 

 white mantle, and the bye-ways of the hamlet were choked 

 to the lintels. Snow-wreaths hung in majestic forms 

 over each prominent escarpment, threatening destruction 

 to the villagers' stock of olives, figs, and vines which 

 grew beneath. The older men gathered in knots dis- 

 cussing Bernal's chances of escape from the higher 

 regions ; no help was possible, and the general opinion 

 was that till the gale had partially swept the dry powdery 

 snow into the ravines and hollows, his descent would be 

 perilous, even if possible. Again the day passed by 

 without sign of the missing bridegroom. The dicJios were 

 postponed, and the hamlet slept with a heavy load of doubt 

 and fear oppressing its mind. 



Thus passed two days — three since the adventurous 

 hunter had set forth, l»ut on the fourth morning it was 

 thought an ascent might be attempted. Three search 

 parties, each composed of three mountaineers, started in 

 different directions, but at nightfall they returned without 

 news or trace of lost Bernal. 



Next morning the search was renewed. Towards noon 

 the party, led by our friend Claudio, descried among the 

 bare rocks of a ridge high above them a moving object. 

 Their cries and shots attracted attention, and presently 

 poor Vasco, Bernal's faithful companion, struggled to 

 reach them. The three men decided to continue calling 

 out Bernal's name, in order to convey to the dog the idea 



