KREUTH. Ill 



been snatched from a horrible death, in whom the re- 

 collection was not yet effaced nor was ever likely to be. 

 They were always wide open : the whole creature seemed 

 vigilant, and awaiting at every moment to have to 

 wrestle with fate. But this was observable in the eyes 

 alone, not in the other features ; for the nostril was not 

 distended nor the lips clenched, as they must have been 

 to harmonize with the meaning that was in his eyes. I 

 thought I had seen the man before : when it suddenly 

 occurred to me that it was the head of the " Ugolino "* 

 I was staring at. 



I entered into conversation with him, and he told me 

 that not long ago he had slipped on the ice and slidden 

 down a long way without being able to stop himself. He 

 was in expectation every moment of going to the bottom 

 of the abyss, where, even had he not been dashed to 

 pieces, he could never have got out again, when his foot 

 was caught and he went no further. His pole and 

 rifle flew down into the gulf. To go after them was 

 impossible ; for fields of ice were there, with large clefts 

 in them, and into one of these frightful crevices both had 

 doubtless fallen. 



Had he told me that, Prometheus-like, he had been 

 chained to a glacier for a whole winter amid the icy world 

 of the mountain-top, exposed to the rains and tempests 

 and the dreary darkness, I could almost have believed 

 his words, so in unison were his features and his whole 

 appearance with such a tale. 



I was glad to find that I should be able to go out in 

 company with Max Solacher, or Maxl as he was fami- 

 liarly called; for many friends had told me that with 

 him, being one of the best stalkers, there would be more 

 chance of success than with any one else. 



* The Ugolino of Sir Joshua Reynolds. 



