Therein he would have erred greatly. Helen was tired, and she admitted it. She did not decline his aid when the path was steep and slippery. In delightful snatches of talk they managed to say a good deal to each other, and Helen did not fail to make plain the exact circumstances under which she first caught sight of Spencer outside the hut. When they arrived at the carriage road, which begins at Lake Cavloccio, they could walk side by side and chat freely. Here, in the valley, matters were normal. The snow did not place such a veil on all things. The windings of the road often brought them abreast of the four men in the rear. Bower was trudging along alone, holding his head down, and seemingly lost in thought.
Close behind him came Stampa and the Engadiners. Karl, of course, was talking—the others might or might not be lending their ears to his interminable gossip.
“We are outstripping our companions. Don’t you think we ought to wait for them?” said Helen once, when Bower chanced to look her way.
“No,” said Spencer.
“You are exceedingly positive.”
“I tried to be exceedingly negative.”
“But why?”
“I rather fancy that they would jar on us.”
“But Stampa’s promised lecture appears to have ended?”
“I think it never began. It is a safe bet that Mr. Bower and he have not exchanged a word since our last halt.”