'You are talking to old
mountaineers, Molly. Hammond has done Cotapaxi and had his little
clamber on the equatorial Andes, and I--well, child, I have done my
Righi, and I have always found the boasted panorama enveloped in dense
fog.'
'It won't be foggy to-day,' said Mary. 'Shall we do the whole thing on
foot, or shall I order the ponies?'
Mr. Hammond inquired the distance up and down, and being told that it
involved only a matter of eight miles, decided upon walking.
'I'll walk, and lead your pony,' he said to Mary, but Mary declared
herself quite capable of going on foot, so the ponies were dispensed
with as a possible encumbrance.
This was planned and discussed in the garden before breakfast. Fraeulein
was told that Mary was going for a long walk with her brother and Mr.
Hammond; a walk which might last over the usual luncheon hour; so
Fraeulein was not to wait luncheon. Mary went to her grandmother's room
to pay her duty visit. There were no letters for her to write that
morning, so she was perfectly free.
The three pedestrians started an hour after breakfast, in light marching
order.
Pages:
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352