"And shall you pay them?" asked Rollo.
"No," said Mr. George. "I shall not pay them. I shall leave all such business to my courier."
The purpose with which the two girls had come out was soon made to appear; for after running along before the party of travellers for about a quarter of a mile, they came to a place where two shallow but rather broad brooks flowed across the pathway. When Rollo and Mr. George came up to the place they found that the girls had placed boards over these streams of water for bridges. One of the boards was the one which the girl had brought along with her, under her arm. The other girl, it seems, kept her board under the bushes near the place, because it was too heavy to carry back and forth to the house. It was their custom to watch for travellers coming along the path, and then to run on before them and lay these bridges over the brooks,—expecting, of course, to be paid for it. Rollo gave them each a small piece of money, and then he and Mr. George went on.
Soon the road began to ascend the side of the mountain in long zigzags and windings. These windings presented new views of the valley below at every turn, each successive picture being more extended and grand than the preceding.
At length, after ascending some thousands of feet, the party came to a resting-place, consisting of a seat in a sort of bower, which had been built for the accommodation of travellers, at a turn of the road where there was an uncommonly magnificent view. Here they stopped to rest, while the guide, leading the horse to a spring at the road side, in order that he might have a drink, sat down himself on a flat stone beside him.
"How far is it that we have got to walk?" asked Mr. George.
Rollo looked at his watch, and then said, "We have got to walk about three hours more."
"And what shall we come to then?" asked Mr. George.
"We shall come down on the other side of the mountain," said Rollo, "to a little village called Lungern, where there is a good road; and there I am going to hire a carriage, and a man to drive us to the lake. It is a beautiful country that we are going through, and the road leads along the shores of mountain lakes. The first lake is up very high among the mountains. The next is a great deal lower down, and we have to go down a long way by a zigzag road, till we get to it. Then we go along the shore of this second lake, through several towns, and at last we come to the landing on the Lake of Lucerne. There I shall hire a boat."
"What kind of a boat?" asked Mr. George.