strange.

"Following, at first, the instructions of Herr Baedeker, we travelled and
climbed, chattering and singing as we went, in the direction of the
Montenvert, whence we were to descend upon the Mer de Glace, and enjoy
the spectacle of a stupendous glacier.

"'And that, I am convinced,' said Fidèle, 'is nothing more nor less than
one of those many windows that give light to the monsters of the
under-earth.'

"'Little imbecile! In some places this window is six hundred feet thick.'

"'So?' she said. 'That is because their dim eyes could not endure the
full light of the sun.'

"We had brought a tin box of sandwiches with us; and this, with my large
pewter flask full of wine, was slung upon my back. For we had been told
the Hôtel du Montenvert was yet closed; and, sure enough when we reached
it, the building stood black in a pool of snow, its shuttered windows
forlorn, and long icicles hung from the eaves.

"The depression induced by this sight was momentary. We turned from it to
the panorama of majestic loveliness that stretched below and around us.
The glacier--that rolling sea of glass--descended from the enormous gates
of the hills. Its source was the white furnace of the skies; its
substance the crystal refuse of the stars; and from its margins the
splintered peaks stood up in a thousand forms of beauty. Right and left,
in the hollows of the mountains, the mist lay like ponds, opal and
translucent; and the shafts of the pine trees standing in it looked like