Page:My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus.djvu/123

98 and decided that this sort of thing must go on no longer, and in desperation we determined to start for the Charmoz. It was true that the continuous bad weather was likely to have materially damaged our chances of success, but as the mountain has a south-western exposure, and is not very high, we hoped nothing really serious would be amiss. The next morning (or shall I say the same night?) we started, and, being provided by M. Couttet with an admirable lantern (this expedition took place in the pre-folding-lantern age), we made very fair progress for the first half-hour. We then began to ascend something which Burgener averred was a path, but which, insensible of, or possibly made bashful by, such gross flattery, hid itself coyly from view at every third step. After a long grind the grey light of morning began to overpower our lantern, so, finding a suitable stone, we carefully hid it and marked the spot with a sprig of pine. Sad to say, on our return, though we found many stones with many sprigs of pine on them, none had our lantern in the hole underneath, a circumstance much to be regretted, as, from an item which subsequently appeared in my bill, it seems to have been a lantern held in high esteem by Monsieur Couttet.

We soon got clear of the forest, and, reaching a stream under the lateral moraine of the Nantillon glacier, halted for breakfast. Here we discovered that three slices of meat, a tiny piece