back with the news the Baron Liszt had engaged him to act as guide to
the Krotten Kopf mountain the next day, and Brand was also wanted to
help to carry the wraps and needful provisions.

Early in the morning the party started. The Baroness accompanied her
husband, and there were one or two gentlemen with their wives. Stephan
and Brand, laden with shawls, umbrellas, and knapsacks, then led the way
with the slow, steady pace always adopted by the mountaineers, who know
that speed avails nothing when great heights have to be climbed, as it
cannot possibly be kept up, and only exhausts the strength at the onset.
After climbing two hours, a turn in a very steep portion of the path
brought them suddenly upon a green plateau, walled in, as it were, by
mountain peaks, which looked of no particular height till the ascent
began. Though the sun had scarcely set, yet, at such an elevation, the
air was more than chilly, and as the Baroness put on a warm shawl she
said, one could easily account for the fresh looks of the "sennerinnen,"
who spend the intensely hot months in so cool and healthful an
atmosphere; for the Alps are never scorched and dried up as elsewhere
during the summer. The Esterberg Alp, as it is called, consists of two
large tracts of rich meadow, green and fresh as in our own fertile land,
with a border of underwood straggling some distance up the mountain, and
whence at midday issue the clear sounds of the musical cow-bells, the
only signs of life in that wild, solitary spot.

They soon came in sight of a long low house, one-half of which was
devoted to the cows and the hay. The earth around was trodden down and
bare; a few flowers grew against the house-wall, and some milk-pans were
ranged along it to dry. The door was opened by a wild-looking man devoid
of shoes and coat; his long, shaggy hair looked as if it had never
experienced the kindly influence of a comb or brush. He had evidently