ON THE TRAIL.]
ON THE TRAIL
"Come, boys!" called their father. "It is time to go on. Gretel'smother says she may go with us as far as her father's cabin. We shallgive Franz and Sep a fine surprise."
"Oh, goody!" cried Gretel. "I haven't seen Franz and Sep since theytook the cows up the mountain in the spring."
"Tell us about it, Gretel," said Jack. "What happens when the cows goup the mountain?"
"Why, that is the jolliest day of the whole year," said Gretel,"except, perhaps, the day when they all come home in the fall.
"Father ties big bells around the necks of the prettiest cows, andmother and I trim their horns with flowers. Then the processionbegins. This year Sep led the procession with his seven little goats.He was the proudest boy that ever went up the mountain.
_Sep led the procession with his seven little goats_]
"The cows know what it means when the bells are tied to their necks.The summer on the alps is a long picnic for them. Mother and I go up alittle way with the procession. Other families take their cows up themountain the same day, and we sing and have a jolly time."
"Do you send all of your cows up to the higher alps in the spring?"asked Jack. "Where did you get the delicious cream that your mothergave us to-day?"
"We keep one cow at home to give us milk and cream during the summer,"said Gretel. "I am always sorry for the poor cow that is left behind,she is so lonesome. We have to tie her very carefully, or she runsaway. She keeps going until she finds her friends 'way up the mountain.Then, of course, father or one of the boys must bring her down again."
"Oh, Gretel, when your brothers see you coming they will think you haverun away because you are so lonesome without them," said Joe, laughing.
"Well, they must keep me a week before they take me home, or I shallrun away again," said Gretel. "I _am_ lonesome without them."
And so they talked, as they tramped along together up the mountaintrail. Once they met a man with a large milk can on his back. The mangreeted the party with a friendly, "Guten Tag! Glueckliche Reise!"This was his way of saying, "Good day! A happy journey!" So the boysquickly answered, "Danke schoen!" which means, "Thank you kindly!"
_Once they met a man with a large milk can on his back_]
Every day this man carried his can full of milk down the mountain tosell to the people who had no cows. He always greeted the strangerswhom he passed on the way, and wished them a happy journey.
On and on, and up and up the little party tramped. At last they beganto see snowbanks, in shaded places near the trail. Sometimes, justbelow a large snowbank, they found a sunny spot covered with a carpetof lovely summer flowers. There were violets and buttercups and daisiesand forget-me-nots, and low bushes of small red alpine roses.
These little wild gardens were watered all summer by the melting snows.The gay flowers seemed to like the icy water at their roots.
The Overall Boys often stopped for a snowball battle with each otherand with Gretel. Then from some mountain garden, they picked freshflowers for their hats, and on they tramped.
Their trail led them below a large glacier, which lay between two highmountain peaks not far away. The boys could hear the great ice rivertwisting and turning in its bed, for the hot summer sun made it veryuncomfortable.
Once there came a loud boom, like a cannon. The boom was followed by acrash, and the crash by a long, loud rumbling noise, which graduallydied away.
"Oh, Gretel, what was that?" cried Joe. "I believe it was anearthquake."
_One of the mountain alps they crossed_]
"Oh, no! That was not an earthquake," said Gretel, laughing. "Thatwas a piece of the glacier breaking off. It must have had a long fallbefore it found a place where it could stop."
"I am glad it couldn't fall in this direction," said Jack. "I thought Iwanted to take a walk on a glacier, but I am not so sure about it now."
"Oh, yes, you must!" said Gretel. "It is lots of fun. I have been up tothat glacier twice with father. There are great cracks in it, so deepyou can hardly see the bottom of them. It is perfectly safe to go withfather. He often takes Americans up there."
"Well, I think I should rather take a walk on some other glacier. I amafraid this one is going to pieces," said Joe.
"No, it isn't!" said Gretel, laughing at Joe again. "The glacier meltsand moves a little every summer, but a great deal of fresh snow fallson it every winter. I guess it will last as long as the mountains do."
THE HERDSMAN'S CABIN.]
THE HERDSMAN'S CABIN
It was late afternoon before the trampers reached the green alp whereGretel's father and brothers were pasturing their cows.
It was milking time. Franz and his father were milking the big, browncows near the cabin. Sep was milking his goats. The pigs were eatingtheir supper of skimmed milk, and Barry, the dog, was keeping his eyeon them all.
It was Barry who first saw the trampers, and away he bounded to meetthem. His bark was very fierce until Gretel called him by name, then healmost wagged his tail off, he was so glad to see her. He was even gladto see the strangers, because they had brought Gretel with them.
Franz and Sep and their father were just as happy as Barry to seetheir little Gretel and her strange friends from America.
_It was milking time, and Franz and his father weremilking the big, brown cows near the cabin_]
Soon they were all eating supper together, sitting around a rough tablein the small cabin. It was a simple supper, but the hungry boys thoughtthey never had eaten a nicer one. There was a long loaf of bread, anda great round cheese with holes all through it, and a dish of wildstrawberries, and a pitcher of warm milk.
While they were eating, they suddenly heard the clear, sweet notes ofa horn. The sound came from the high mountain above the cabin. In amoment the same notes came more softly from the mountain on the otherside of the alp, and again still more softly they came.
_Then the herdsman took his great horn, which was tallerthan himself, and blew a few long, clear notes on it in answer_]
"What is that?" cried Joe.
"It is my neighbor, who pastures his cows on the alp above us," saidGretel's father. "He is blowing his great horn to tell us that the sunis just setting behind that snow-covered peak. I must answer him, sohe may know that all is well with us."
Then the herdsman took his great horn, which was taller than himself,and went out in front of his cabin. He blew a few long, clear notes,which meant, he said, "Praise ye the Lord." Again and again the samenotes came back in echo from the mountain walls, each time more softly.
The snow-covered peaks were no longer white, but glowing red from therays of the setting sun. Then darkness came on very quickly.
The tired travelers were glad to find a small inn on the alp where theycould spend the night. Of course Gretel stayed with her father andbrothers in their little cabin.
There were only two rooms in the cabin. The larger room belonged to thecows. They came in here to be milked in stormy weather. In the otherroom the family cooked and ate and made their cheeses. Their bedroomwas a low balcony over one end of this room, and they reached it byclimbing up a short ladder.
_Early the next morning Jack and Joe went with Sep andhis goats up the rocky mountain side_]
Next morning the boys were wakened early by Sep calling to them outsideof their window.
"Oh, Jack and Joe," he called, "come with me. I have to take my goatsup the mountain to their pasture. There is something fine up there thatI want to show you."
So Jack and Joe went with Sep and his goats up the rocky mountain side.It was a hard climb, but it was fun.
The little goats could climb anywhere. They went into dangerous placeswhere the cows could not go, and they found many tender bits of grassto eat.
When the boys had climbed very high, Sep crept carefully out on anarrow shelf of rock. He lay face downward and reached far over theedge. The mountain side was very steep below him.
"Watch me, boys
!" he cried. "But don't you come too near."
Then, very carefully, he picked a small, furry, white flower which wasgrowing on the steep, rocky wall. He picked another and another of theflowers, until his hand was full of them.
"There now!" he cried. "You know my secret. I have shown you where myedelweiss grows. It grows only in the most dangerous places on thehigh mountains. I pick a few of the flowers every day, when they arein bloom, to sell to travelers who cross our alp, but you are the onlypeople I have ever brought up here to see them growing."
"Oh, thank you, Sep!" cried Jack. "We'll never, never tell yoursecret. But please let us pick a few of the flowers ourselves."
So each of the boys carried down the mountain a handful of the proudlittle flowers which they had picked themselves.
_Edelweiss_]
The Overall Boys were real mountain climbers at last, for only mountainclimbers ever find and pick the edelweiss.
When the boys reached the cabin, Sep's father was watching a greatkettle of milk, over an open fire. He had put more than a hundredquarts of milk into the copper kettle, with a little rennet to make itturn into curd.
Herdsmen make their rennet by soaking a calf's stomach in water or inwhey; they then save this liquid to use in making their cheeses.
Sep's father stirred and watched the milk in his great copper kettleuntil the curd began to form. He then swung the kettle away from thefire, and put both bare arms into the warm milk. He worked the cheeseinto one large lump, and lifted it out on a great tray, where he workedit still more to squeeze out the milk.
_Sep's father stirred and watched the milk in his greatcopper kettle until the curd began to form_]
It was then put into a round, wooden press a few days. Each day thepress was opened and the cheese rubbed with salt.
When it was just right, it would be taken out and laid on a shelf inthe small cheese house, where all the cheeses were kept until theycould be carried down the mountain and sold. But they were not reallygood to eat until they were at least six months old.
Sep's father made one of these cheeses every day, and he made cheesesfrom his goats' milk, too. He and his boys lived a busy life on themountain. They had no time to be lonesome.
The Overall Boys told Franz and Sep how they often had Swiss cheesefor dinner in America. They said when they got home again they shouldcertainly tell their grocer just how his big Swiss cheeses were made.
A SUMMER BLIZZARD.]
A SUMMER BLIZZARD
The travelers spent two happy days with their friends in the herdsman'scabin. They would like to have spent the rest of the summer with them.Jack and Joe would like to have learned how to milk the goats and howto blow the great alpine horn.
But there were many other things which they wanted to do and to see inthis wonderful little country of Switzerland, so they shouldered theirknapsacks and started once more on the trail.
The way soon became steep and rocky. Gray clouds hid the snow-coveredpeaks. The wind blew cold, and the boys were glad of the hard climb tokeep themselves warm.
They crossed one or two small alps where cows were feeding, and theystopped at a tiny cabin to ask for a drink of milk.
_In the cabin they found a small boy watching a largekettle of milk over an open fire_]
In the cabin they found a small boy, who was watching a large kettleof milk over an open fire. The boy said that his father had gone upthe mountain to hunt for a lost cow, so he was making cheese from hisgoats' milk.
The Overall Boys were quite sure that they would be lonesome, if theyhad to stay away up there all alone. But this little boy whistled andsang and talked with his goats, calling them each by name. They reallywere having a jolly time together.
_The boy and the goats had jolly times together_]
After the good drink of milk the travelers tramped on and up, while thegray clouds dropped lower and the wind grew colder. Soon fine whiteflakes began to frisk through the air and to dance on the boys' cheeks.
"Oh, Jack," called Joe, "it is snowing!"
"So it is!" shouted Jack. "It's snowing! It's really snowing, and it'ssummer time! Hurrah!"
The white flakes fell faster and thicker. In a few moments they werefalling so fast and so thick the trampers could see only a shortway ahead of them. It was hard climbing now. The path was steep andslippery. The boys had to stop often to get their breath, and theirknapsacks suddenly grew very heavy.
"I suppose it is because we are up so high," said Jack. "The air is sothin up here we can't get enough of it to breathe. It is always likethat on the high mountains, they say."
"I don't care," said Joe. "We are in a snow blizzard, anyhow. Justthink of it!"
"I shouldn't care to lose our path," said Jack. "I guess it wouldn't bea very happy night for us if we did."
"Oh, Jack, I have lost the path already! I can hardly see you. My! Howit snows! Where are father and mother?"
"Here we are!" shouted their father. "I think we are near the top ofthe Pass. I hear a dog barking. There is a house up at the top, wherewe can stay all night. Keep climbing, boys!"
Just then a great dog came bounding down the mountain toward them. Hegave a short, quick bark, turned about and led the party safely up tothe small hotel. Then away he bounded again to find other travelers,who might be lost in the snow and who needed his help. He was a St.Bernard dog, and he had saved the lives of many people on the highmountains.
It was a tired party that spent the night in the little hotel at thetop of the Great Scheidegg Pass, but when morning came they were readyfor another battle with the snow.
Of course the trail was covered, and the snow was too soft and toodeep for them to tramp over it without snowshoes. The little party wassnow-bound on the mountains in midsummer.
But the Overall Boys liked being snow-bound. They built a fine snowfort, with snow soldiers in it, and piles of snow cannon balls to keepenemies away from the little hotel.
The St. Bernard dog had a jolly time, too. Once he jumped against oneof the snow soldiers, and over they went together. After that heseemed to be afraid of the soldiers and would not go near the fort, butran around it, barking loudly.
_The Overall Boys and the dog enjoying the snow_]
Next morning the boys were out early to take a look at things.
"Oh, Jack," shouted Joe, "it froze in the night! There is a hard crustover everything!"
"So there is!" said Jack. "We don't need snowshoes now. We can go downthe mountain on the crust."
And that is what they did. With the St. Bernard dog to show them theway, the party hurried down over the snow before the warm sun had timeto soften the crust.
As they went lower, the snow rapidly grew less. Soon the boys sawlovely bluebells and alpine roses and other flowers holding their headsbravely up through the thin, white blanket.
A few moments later their own trail came in sight. It was no longerhidden by the snow. The St. Bernard dog gave a loud bark, wagged histail, and bounded back up the mountain. His work for that party wasdone.
EXPLORING A GLACIER.]
EXPLORING A GLACIER
The rest of the way down the mountain was easy tramping.
The path soon led by the end of the great Upper Wetterhorn Glacier, andthe Overall Boys begged their father to let them explore it.
"All right," said their father. "Just step into this small car and wewill go on an exploring trip."
Before the boys knew what was happening, the tiny square car rose fromthe ground and began moving slowly upward, following the steep slope ofthe mountain.
"Oh, Jack, where are we going?" cried Joe. "This car is built bottomside up. The wheels are on the top of it, instead of on the bottom."
"That's so!" exclaimed Jack. "We are hanging in the air on a cable.It is lifting us right up the mountain side. And look away up there!Another car just like this one is coming down. My! Do you suppose weshall go as high as that?"
_"We are hanging in the air on a cable," Jack exclaimed."It i
s lifting us right up the mountain side"_]
"I hope so," said Joe. "But see what is below us. It is the glacier!Look at the great cracks in it. Do you hear that noise, Jack? It soundslike thunder."
"I guess it is only another crack bursting open," said Jack. "This hotsun makes the glacier move faster, and so it cracks open."
Up, up, climbed the car, right over the glacier, until it came to awild goat's path on a narrow shelf of the mountain, more than twelvehundred feet above the starting point.
Here it slipped into a small station, and everybody stepped out. Otherpeople took their places, and then the car moved slowly downward,leaving the boys on the steep mountain side.
"My! That was great!" cried Jack. "Now what are we going to do?"
"We are going to walk across the glacier, aren't we, father?" said Joe.
"Of course we are. We have come up here to explore it, you know," saidtheir father.
And they did explore 'way across the great ice river. In many placesthey had to walk very carefully, or they would have fallen into one ofthe deep cracks, but at last they came safely to the other side. Therewas no car on this side of the glacier to carry them down the mountain,but there were long ladders to help them over the very hardest andsteepest places.
The Overall Boys in Switzerland Page 5