But just as exhaustion was about to make short work of any further ascent,
and Glenarvan's heart began to sink as he thought of the snow lying far
as the eye could reach, and of the intense cold, and saw the shadow
of night fast overspreading the desolate peaks, and knew they had
not a roof to shelter them, suddenly the Major stopped and said,
in a calm voice, "A hut!"


CHAPTER XIII A SUDDEN DESCENT


ANYONE else but McNabbs might have passed the hut a hundred times,
and gone all round it, and even over it without suspecting its existence.
It was covered with snow, and scarcely distinguishable from
the surrounding rocks; but Wilson and Mulrady succeeded in digging
it out and clearing the opening after half an hour's hard work,
to the great joy of the whole party, who eagerly took possession of it.

They found it was a CASUCHA, constructed by the Indians,
made of ADOBES, a species of bricks baked in the sun.
Its form was that of a cube, 12 feet on each side, and it
stood on a block of basalt. A stone stair led up to the door,
the only opening; and narrow as this door was, the hurricane,
and snow, and hail found their way in when the TEMPORALES
were unchained in the mountains.

Ten people could easily find room in it, and though the walls might be
none too water-tight in the rainy season, at this time of the year,
at any rate, it was sufficient protection against the intense cold,
which, according to the thermometer, was ten degrees below zero.