8 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



my lancet into a steel pen, and took up the trade of 

 authorship. My love of the Alps still remained the 

 same ; and from association alone, I translated the 

 French drama " La Grace de Dieu," under the name of 

 "The Pearl of Chamouni," for one of the London minor 

 theatres. I brought forward all my old views, and 

 made the directors get up the scenery as true to nature 

 as could be expected in an English playhouse, where 

 a belief in the unreal is the great creed ; and then I 

 was in the habit of sitting in a dark corner of the 

 boxes, night after night, and wondering what the 

 audience thought of "The Valley and Village of 

 Chamouni, as seen from the Col de Balme Pass, with 

 Mont Blanc in the distance : " so ran the bill. I 

 believe, as far as they were concerned, I might have 

 called it Snowdon or Ben Nevis with equal force; 

 but I knew it was correct, and was satisfied. 



In the ensuing seven or eight years I always went 

 over to Chamouni whenever I had three weeks to 

 spare in the autumn. Gradually the guides came to 

 look upon me as an Tidbitue of the village ; and in 

 our rambles I always found them clear-headed, in- 

 telligent, and even well-read companions. But what- 

 ever subject was started, we always got back to Mont 

 Blanc in our conversation ; and when I left Chamouni 

 last year, Jean Tairraz made me half promise that I 

 would come back again the following August, and try 

 the ascent with him. All the winter through the 

 intention haunted me. I knew, from my engage- 



