"A hundred times I felt emptiness beneath my feet." He referred to a mishap of the day before.

On the way to the gite after the chalets and the wood are left behind, a little path leads along the rocks of the Mont de la Brenva high above the glacier.

There are one or two awkward corners to pass where rough footsteps have been hewn in the rock.

At one of these corners Walter Hine had slipped.

His side struck the step; he would have dropped to the glacier, but Garratt Skinner had suddenly reached out a hand and saved him.
Garratt Skinner's face changed.
"You are not afraid," he said.
"You think we can do it ?" asked Hine, nervously, and Garratt Skinner laughed.
"Ask Pierre Delouvain!" he said, and himself put the question.