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v::13ITTLE DORRIT. I . 337,
snow about the door into a pool of mud- Jtidingjsaddles
and bridles, pack-saddles and strings of bells, mules and
men, lanterns, ' torches, sacks, provender, , barrels,‘
cheeses,‘-kegs of honey andbutter, straw" bundles and
packagesof inanyshapes, were crowded confnsedly to-
gether in this thawedquaginire, and aboutthe steps.’
Up here in the clouds, everything was seen through
cloud, andseemed dissolving into cloud. , The breath of
the men was , cloud, the breath of the mules was cloud,
the, lights,were encircled by, cloud, speakers ,close at
hand were not seen for cloud, though their voices and all
other sounds were surprisingly clear. [Ofthe cloudy line
of mules hastily tied torings in the wall, onewould bite
another, or kick another, and then the whole mist would
be disturbed :with men diving into it, and cries of , men
and,‘ beasts coming out of it, and no bystander discerning
what waswrong. , In the midst of. this, the great stable
ofthe convent, occupyingtho basement story,,ar.d en-
tered by the basement door, outside wliich;all the dis-
order.was,.poured forth its contribution of cloud, as if
the whole rugged edifice,were filled with nothing else,
and would collapse as soon as it had emptied itself, leav-
ing the snow to fallupon the bare mountain summit. .. ‘
V. lVhilo all tliisnoiseand hurry,were rife among the
living travellers, there, too, silentlygassembled in a
grated house, half a dozen -paces removed, with the
same cloud cnfoldiug them,,iind the same snow iiakes
drifting iuupoii them, were the deadtravellers found
upon the mountain.‘ The mother, storm-belated many
winters ago, still standing in the corner with her,-baby
at her breast; the man who had frozen with his arm
raised to his mouth in fear or liunger,,-still pressing it
with his dry lips afteryears and years. , An awful com-
, pany, mysteriously comeiogetlier l ;A wild destiny for.
that mother to have foreseen, “ Surrounded by so many
and such companions upon whom I never looked, and
never shall look, I and. my child will dwell together in-
separable, on the Great Saint Bernard, outlasting genera-
tions who will come to see us, and will ‘never know our
name, or one word of our story but the 'end.” ,
The living travellers thought little or nothing of the
dead just then.‘ ,They thought much more of alighting
at the convent door, and warming tlieinselvcs at the con-'
vent, fire. .Disengaged from , the turmoil, which was
already calming down as the crowd of mules beganto be
bestowed in',the stage, they hurried, shivering up the
steps and into the bui ding.‘ There was a smellvwithin,
coming up from the floor of tethered: beasts, like the
smell of agrnenagerie of wild; animals. , There, were
strong arched galleries within, huge stone piers, great
staircases, and thick walls pierced with small sunken
windows?-fortifications against the mountain storms, as
if they had been human, enemies, , There, were gloomy
vaulted sleeping rooms within, intensely cold, but,clcan
and hospitably prepared for guests; Finally,’ there was
11 parlour, for guests to sit in and to sup in, wherea table
gash already laid, and where a blazing fire shone red and
,, . . .
5 . , - , ,- , . ‘ ‘ . .
3 In this room, after having had their quarters for the
night allotted to them by two young‘Fathers, the travel-
lers presently drew round the ,hcartli., They were, in
three parties ; of whom the first, as tliemost niimerous
and important, was the slowest, and had been overtaken
by one of the others on the way up. ‘It, consisted of. an
elderly lady, two grey-liaircd geutlemen,two young ladies,
and their brother. These were attended (not tovmepntlon
four guides), by a courier, two footinen, and two’waiting-
maids : which strong body of inconvenience was accom-
modated elsewhere under the same roof. ‘ The party that
had overtaken thein,,'and followed intheirhtrain, con-I
S-isted of only,tliree members: one lady and two gentle-
men. The third party, which‘ had ascended from the
I Valley on tlieltaliau side of, the Pass, and had arrived
first, .were ,four ‘in number: n plethoric, hungry, and
silent German tutor in spectacles,’ on a tour withnthreo
.‘i'011ng men, hispupils, all pletlioric, hungry, and silent,
and all in spectacles. . y i , 3.‘ i ;
. Thesethree groups sat round the fire eyeing each other
dryly, and waiting for supper. , Only onevamong them,
One of the gentlemen belonging to the party of three,
made advances towards conversation,’ Tlirowing out his
lines for the Chief of the important tribe, while.addiess-
.
second gentlenianpof the partylof three.‘
ing himself to his; own companions, he Iemarkedgin a
tone of voicewhich included all the ‘company if they
chose to ‘be included, that it had been a long day, and
that he felt for the ladies. 'I‘liat,he feared one ofthe
young ladies, was not a strong or accustomed traveller, and
had been over-fatigued two ortliree hours ago. That he
had observed,’ from his station injthe rear, that she sat
her mule as if she were exhausted. ‘Thathe had, twice
or thrice aftei-wards, done himself -the honour of inquirf
ing of one of the guides, when he fell behind, how the
young lady did. That he had been enchanted to learn
that she had recoveredplier spirits,’ and that it’ hadybeen’
but apassing discomfort, ,That he trusted (by this time
he had secured theeyes of the Chief, and addresseld him)
he might be permitted to express his hope ,that'shc was
now none the worse, and that she would not regret liav‘-A
ingmade the journey, ‘ - . ' , ‘ f V
“ M " daughter, I am obliged toyon, sir,” returned the
Chief, “is quite restored, andlhas been greatly inter-
ested.’,’ i a a - pr ’
“ New to mountains, perhaps?” said theinsinuating
travellerm‘, -; p r I g . ' ’ ’ ’
“ New to- a-to mountains,” said the Chief.
ing traveller assumed. ‘ ' .
“I am,-hum--tolei-ably familiar. "Not of late years.”
Not of late years,” replied the,Chief, with a flourish of,
his hand.- . l l I V , '
The insinuating traveller, acknowledging the flourish
with an inclination of his head, passed from the Chief to
thesecond young lady, who had not yet been referred to,
otherwise than as one of the ladies in whose behalf he
felt so sensitive an interest. I i ’ ' '
He hoped she was not incommoded bytho fatigues of
the day. 7 . c ' - ‘
“incommoded, certainly,” returned the young lady.
“but not tired.”, . . ', 4 ’
The insinuating traveller complimented her on the jus-
tice of the distinction. It was what he had meant to say.
Everylady iriust,doubtless beincommoded, by having to
do pith that provcrbially:unaccommodating animal, the
inn e. . I ‘ i , ‘
.“ VVe have Iliad, of course,’-’ saidthc young lady, who
was rather reserved and haughty, “ tolleave t o carriages
and fourrron at Martigny.‘ And the iinpossibilityof bring-
ing'auyt ing that one wants ptoithis inaccessible place,
and the necessity of leaijing.'every comfort behind, is not
,“ But you are familiar with them, sir ‘Z ” the insinuat-‘
convenie'nt.”. , i , , V .
1 ‘f A savage‘ place',,iudecd," ‘said the insinuating travel-
: ‘The elderly lady, who was a model of accurate'dress-
iug, and vvhosemnianner was perfect, ‘considered as 1!
piece, of machinery, here [interposed a remark iira “low
soft voice.. 1' ' .- U ’ )1‘. V ‘ f " 1 "‘
But, like,other, inconvenient places,”'she observed,
“ it must be seen. As a place much spoken of, it is nec-‘
essary to see it.” - ’ , ’ ’
“Oh! ‘I have not the leastyobjection to seeing it,
I aslsure you, 1,llrs..PGenera ,”, returned the other, ‘care-
9.555'- . " 1 i , l :
3 “You,1 madam,”said the insinuating traveller, f‘ have
visited 2 iis spot before ‘Z”. ' ' -- ' i ’,
‘.‘Yes,’’'returned.-Mrs.VGeneral. , g “I have been hero
before. ,Let me ‘recommend you, my dear,” to the former
young lady, .“,to shade your face from the hot wood,
after exposure to,the mountain air !ll]d‘SIlO“'. You, too,
my dear,” to the"oth‘er'an'd-‘younger lady, who immedi-
ately did so- while the former’xnerely said :“Thank'
you, Mrs. General,’ I a'tn’,'perfectly'comfortable, and,pre-
fer remaining asIain.”’ " 5 ‘ - " -
. ‘The brother, wh had l9ftJIllS' chair to ‘open a piano
that stood in'tlie room, and who had wliistled into it and,
shut it up agaiu,‘now came strolling back tojthc fire with
his glass in his eye. Ile was dressed in the very fullest"
and completest travelling ltdriiln. M The world fseemed
hardl lar e‘ enou h to yie lll112ll)>K1I‘l10l1l’lIa0 travel
propoitiongte to big equipment; I‘ . ' T w ‘ ‘
“ These fellows. arepan immense time with supper,” ho
drawled. ..“I-wonder what they’ll give usl Has any-'
bodyanyide:i?”l; l," 2 l. ", V‘
“ Not roast man, I believe," replied the voice of
V