“Différemment, my good friend, how do you explain certain awful catastrophes... that of the Matterhorn, for instance?..”
“It is sixteen years since that happened; the Company was not then constituted, Monsieur Tartarin.”
“But last year, the accident on the Wetterhorn, two guides buried with their travellers!..”
“Must, sometimes, té, pardi!.. you understand... whets the Alpinists... The English won’t come to mountains now where heads are not broke... The Wetterhorn had been running down for some time, but after that little item in the papers the receipts went up at once.”
“Then the two guides?..”
“They are just as safe as the travellers; only they are kept out of sight, supported in foreign parts, for six months... A puff like that costs dear, but the Company is rich enough to afford it.”
“Listen to me, Gonzague...”
Tartarin had risen, one hand on Bompard’s shoulder.
“You would not wish to have any misfortune happen to me, que?.. Well, then! speak to me frankly... you know my capacities as an Alpinist; they are moderate.”
“Very moderate, that’s true.”