“Well, you see,” replied Hal, “all your family have got a bad name; but there may be some honest ones amongst you.”
But the offended hens did not wait to hear more, and scuttled off into the bushes.
The children, seeing that Santa Claus was beckoning to them to go on, tried to get up the slope quickly; but how slippery the stretches of snow-grass were! they often stumbled, and had to hold on tightly to the silvery tufts to keep from falling backwards into the awful depths. Many a time did Hal help little Cis, for he still had the wand in his hand, and used it as a stick to lean upon.
“We shall soon get to the snow now,” said Santa Claus, waiting for the children, and pointing above them, where the eternal peaks were shining.
“What is that?” cried Hal, as he heard a loud thundering, as of a huge mass falling from some great height, waking the echoes far and near.
“You will know soon,” answered Santa Claus; and helping the children up the last steep ledges, they came in sight of the vast fields of snow and ice.
Proceeding in single file along the narrow path under his guidance, he at length placed them on a spot whence they could safely watch the avalanches thundering from the heights, down the rugged mountain side to the valley below, and how wonderful it was to see the huge masses of ice falling, sliding, dashing from ledge to ledge! Then from the clear sky above them they heard a voice calling, “Ke-a, ke-a. Come up, come up.”
Kea.