"How long will it take us to go?" asked Mr. Holiday.
"We can go in a day," said Rollo. "There are plenty of diligences. The offices of them are here all along the quay.
"Or, if you don't choose to go so far in a day," continued Rollo, "you can go in half a day to the entrance of the valley, where there is a good place to stop, and then we can go to Chamouni the next day. I have studied it all out in the guide book."
"Very well," said Mr. Holiday. "It seems that we can get into the valley of Chamouni very easily; and now how is it about getting out?"
At this question Rollo's countenance fell a little, and he replied that it was not so easy to get out.
"There is no way to get out," said he, "except to go over the mountains, unless we come back the same way we go in."
"That would not be quite so pleasant," said Mr. Holiday.
"No, sir," said Rollo; "it would be better to go out some new way. But there is not any way. It is a long, narrow valley, very high up among the mountain glaciers. There is a way to get out at the upper end, but it is only a mountain pass, and we should have to ride over on mules. But you could ride on a mule—could not you, father?"
"Why, yes," said Mr. Holiday, "perhaps I could; but it might be too fatiguing for your mother. She has not been accustomed to ride on horseback much of late years.
"Besides," he continued, "I suppose that as it is a mountain pass, the road must be pretty steep and difficult."