42 



CHAPTER V. 



A WALK TO F1SCHBACHAU. 



The young forester Meier was going to see his father, 

 who lived at the foot of the Peissenberg ; and as my road 

 over the Kiihzagel Alp passed his house, we set off to- 

 gether. 



" Well, Meier," I asked at parting, " are you sure I 

 shall find the way ?" 



" You can't miss it. To the top of the mountain goes 

 a road ; a little way up is a bridge ; do not cross it, but 

 keep straight on. Higher up you will come to a place 

 where there are three roads — take the middle one, it 

 leads downwards, and then you have the mountain stream 

 beside you all the way." 



" Well, adieu ! and by the time I come back look out 

 for the chamois." 



Now it is a very easy matter for one who knows a 

 road by heart, to tell another of paths to the right and 

 to the left, and that he is not to choose this, but is to 

 take that ; and as you listen you at last get inoculated 

 with a notion of its easiness, and allow yourself to com- 

 mit the folly of starting off alone. But once in the wood 

 the pathway is hardly discernible, and across the moun- 

 tain-top there is no trace of footsteps to be seen ; so at 

 last you come to a stand, fully convinced of having done 



