Yes, the wonderful ride over the Brünig Pass ended at Meiringen, but the more wonderful tramp over the Great Scheidegg Pass was to begin at Meiringen, and the boys were to have other strange experiences down in the deep, green valley. The most exciting of them all came the very next morning.
There was an early breakfast eaten in the pretty garden of the hotel, then their father said:
"Now for the fun! Yesterday we went over a mountain. To-day we shall go through one."
The boys had no words to express their delight
"Are we going through a tunnel?" cried Joe.
"No, indeed!" said their father. "At least it is not a tunnel made by men. Come and see what you think of it."
They were soon tramping along the village street toward the high mountain at the head of the narrow valley. A swift river hurried past them to join the lake at the other end of the valley. It was the river Aar.
The boys saw where the river had overflowed its banks in the springtime, when the snows melted and the heavy rains came. They were told that the bridges were often washed away, and that sometimes great masses of rocks came tearing down the mountain side, right into the little village, crushing and burying everything in their path.