“No, herr,” said the guide quietly; “the climbing would be too steep, and there is a slope there which later on will be swept by loose stones. Better take to the snow again, then work up it.”
“But suppose it is in bad condition?”
“It will be shaded from the sun till the afternoon, and quite hard. From there, you see, we can easily get to the shoulder, and then choose our way up the last part by the rocks or the snow. You see that either can be reached: that is plain enough from here.”
“Yes, it looks easy,” said Dale thoughtfully. “The rock for preference, for I want to see the structure, and we may find specimens of what I am seeking.”
“Yonder will be most likely,” said Melchior, pointing to a huge mass of dark mountain a few miles away, part of which was now glowing in the morning sun, whose bright rays made the ice and snow glitter on a score of peaks.
“We’ll, try that later on,” said Dale. “Have you never been up it?”
“No, herr; but I have been on others, where little crystals have been found in cracks; and they were mountains like that—very steep-sided, and having little snow.”
“There’s plenty of time,” said Dale, raising his glass to examine the farther mountain attentively. “We’ll try that by-and-by. Has it any name?”
“The Black Nun, herr. That is the White Nun, on beyond it, to the right.”
“Yes, I’ll keep to my original plan,” said Dale, looking up once more to the mountain at whose foot they sat, “and in half an hour we’ll be off. How many hours will it take us?”