"Why, uncle George! the sky is all full of rocks and ice!"
"It is indeed!" said Mr. George.
It was rather fortunate than otherwise that the landscape was obscured with clouds when Mr. George and Rollo first came into the vicinity of the Jungfrau, as the astonishing spectacle of rocks and precipices and immense accumulations of snow and ice, breaking out as it were through the clouds all over the sky, was in some respects more impressive than the full and unobstructed view of the whole mountain would have been.
"I wish the clouds would clear away," said Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George. "I should like to see the whole side of the mountain very much."
Here another long and heavy peal, like thunder, began to be heard. Mr. George stopped his horse to listen. Rollo and Henry stopped too. The sound seemed to commence high up among the clouds. The echoes and reverberations were reflected from the rocks and precipices all around it; but the peal seemed slowly and gradually to descend towards the horizon; and finally, after the lapse of two or three minutes, it entirely ceased.
The travellers paused a moment after the sound ceased and continued to listen. When they found that all was still they began to move on again.
"I wish I could have seen that avalanche," said Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George. "I hope the clouds will clear away by the time we get to the inn."
It was just about sunset when the party reached the inn. Rollo was beginning to get a little tired, though the excitement of the excursion and the effect produced on his mind by the strange aspect of every thing around him inspired him with so much animation and strength that he held on in his walk very well indeed. It is true that a great portion of the mountain scenery around him was concealed from view by the clouds; but there was something in the appearance of the rocks, in the character of the vegetation, and especially in the aspect and expression of the patches of snow which were to be seen here and there in nooks and corners near the path,—the remains of the vast accumulations of the preceding winter which the sun had not yet dispelled,—that impressed Rollo continually with a sentiment of wonder and awe, and led him to feel that he had attained to a vast elevation, and that he was walking, as he really was, among the clouds.