"Cover thyself, good Pierre, I pray thee:" urged the Genoese in a tone of
repentance. "I have shown the intemperance of a boy, and intemperance of a
quality that little becomes my years. Thou art the best judge of the
circumstances in which we are placed, and thou alone shalt lead us."
Pierre accepted the apology with a manly but respectful reverence,
continuing always to ascend with unremitted industry.
Ten gloomy and anxious minutes succeeded. During this time, the falling
snows came faster and in finer flakes, while, occasionally, there were
fearful intimations that the winds were about to rise. At the elevation
in which the travellers now found themselves, phenomena, that would
ordinarily be of little account, become the arbiters of fate. The escape
of the caloric from the human system, at the height of six or seven
thousand feet above the sea, and in the latitude of forty-six, is, under
the most favorable circumstances, frequently of itself the source of
inconvenience; but here were grave additional reasons to heighten the
danger. The absence of the sun's rays alone left a sense of chilling cold,
and a few hours of night were certain to bring frost, even at midsummer.
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