CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
SAXE TAKES A SHOWER-BATH.
The musical tinkling of bells roused Saxe at daybreak; and, as helistened to the pleasant sound produced by quite a large herd of goats,their leader's horn was heard from time to time collecting stragglerswho were disposed to stop at intervals to begin breakfasting on the way.
"We haven't done much in finding crystals yet," thought Saxe, as he lay."I wonder what he means to do this morning. I feel as if I should likea day or two's rest; but I don't know--I'm not so very tired."
He lay very still for a few minutes, listening to the tinkling chime ofthe goat-bells, gradually growing more distant as their wearers madetheir way up the side of the valley; and as he listened he could tell aswell as if he were watching when one of the goats broke away from theherd and leaped and bounded among the rocks to some tempting patch ofyoung green grass,--for there was a sudden splash, so to speak, in thestream of sound; and again when two or three young kids rose on theirhind legs and butted and danced at each other.
The picture Saxe painted in his mind made him restless, and the morninglove of another half-hour being chased away, he determined to rise andget out in the clear, fresh air.
"Time they woke up," thought Saxe at last, as the pale dawn stole inthrough the chinks. "Tired, I suppose."
He lay listening now to the low murmuring sound of the cowbells, whosechime was silvery and pleasant, and trembled and vibrated in the air;and again he pictured the soft-eyed, meek, lowing creatures, slowlypicking their way among the great mossy stones which had been tumbleddown from the mountain.
"Oh, I sha'n't lie here any longer," said Saxe to himself. "I say!" hecried: "Mr Dale! Ahoy! It's to-morrow morning. Oh, what a noddle Iam!" he muttered. "It's broad daylight, Mr Dale. Are you coming for adip?"
No answer.
"I say, Mr Dale! Time to get up."
All was silent, and Saxe raised himself on his elbow and peered throughthe darkness at the heap of hay beside him.
"He must have been tired last night," he muttered, "and old Melk too. Isay, Mr Dale! do you know what you say to me sometimes?"
"No: that he doesn't," thought Saxe. "He is sleeping fast, and if Iwake him he'll turn rusty. I don't care. Here--hi! Mr Dale.Breakfast!"
Still no reply.
"Oh, I must rouse him," cried Saxe, and, springing up, he went to wherehis companion slept, and then gave the hay an angry kick.
"What a shame!" he cried. "I do call that shabby. They've been up everso long, and gone somewhere without me. It's too bad!"
He hurried out of the great loft-like place, and encountered thesour-looking man Pierre.
"Here!" he cried, in atrociously bad German, bolstered up and patchedwith English: "where's the herr, and where's Melchior?"
Pierre, whose hair was full of scraps of hay, took off his cap andscratched his head.
"Where is the herr and where is the guide?" said Saxe, a little louderand with a worse pronunciation.
Pierre opened his mouth, let his head hang forward, and stared at thelad in a heavy, stupid way.
"I say, William Tell," cried Saxe--in plain English now--"can't youunderstand your own language?"
The man stared more heavily than before.
"Regardez donc: parlez-vous Francais?"
The stare continued.
"Well, you are a lively one," muttered Saxe. "Here, I'll have anothertry at you. `Wollen Sie mir.' Let's see: `wollen Sie mir'--what's`have the goodness to tell me which way the guide and Mr Dale went?'--You don't understand? No more do I how you can stand there like an uglybit of rustic carving. I say, stupid! Can you understand that? Oh,I'm as stupid as he is. Get out of the way, old wooden wisdom, andlet's find your master."
Just at that moment voices fell upon the lad's ear, evidently comingfrom a rough building formed of pine logs built up log-hut fashion.
He hurried towards it, and found old Andregg standing at the doorlooking in, but ready to turn and salute him with a pleasant smile andthe friendly "good morning" of the Swiss people.
"Ah, Saxe! that you?" said Dale, who was busy with Melchior repackingsome of the things which had been brought up the valley by Pierre duringtheir absence. "Had a good night's rest?"
"Yes. But why didn't you call me when you got up?"
"I did, and so did Melchior; but you were so sound that I thought I'dlet you sleep. Well, all the traps are right, and I've been packing upwhat we want to take."
"Where?"
"Into the heart of the mountains."
"And when do you start?"
"As soon as ever we have done breakfast and put together a good supplyof food. Had your bath?"
"No. I meant to go with you."
"Go and have it, and by that time we shall be ready for breakfast."
Saxe went off rather dissatisfied, towel in hand, to pass theirlandlord's wife and receive a nod and smile. Then he went on towardsthe place which he had visited before; and now, one by one, thecold-looking peaks began to turn rosy and brighten, the scene changingso rapidly to orange and gold that Saxe forgot his dissatisfiedfeelings, and at last stopped to look round in admiration, then indismay, and at last in something approaching rage; for not a dozen yardsbehind him was the heavy, stolid face of Pierre, his mouth looking as ifit had not been shut since he spoke to him.
The man had stopped when Saxe stopped, and he continued his heavy stare.
"Oh! I do wish I had paid more attention to my jolly old French andGerman at school," muttered Saxe, as the man's stare quite worried him."I wonder what `be off' is? Allez-vous en he would not understand.`Gehen!' That's `to go.' But you can't say `to go' to a fellow, whenyou want him to be off. And you can't say `go to,' because gehen's onlyone word. I know: `Gehen sie Jericho!' I'll let that off at him if hefollows me any farther."
Saxe nodded at the man, said "Morgen," and went on.
"`Morgen!' Well, that's `good morning.' He must understand that; but Idon't believe he understands it as we do when one says `good morning' toa fellow and means he's to go. Oh! I say, what are you following mefor? I know. He is a dirty-looking beggar. He's coming for a wash.But after me, please, mein herr. I'll have first go. Ugh! I'd ratherhave a bath after a pig."
Saxe went on rapidly; but the man still followed, walking when he did,and timing his pace to keep up; stopping when he did, and provoking sucha feeling of irritation in the English lad, that he suddenly faced roundand fired the speech he had prepared, but with lingual additions whichornamented and certainly obscured the meaning.
"Here, I say! you, sir!" he cried: "old what's-your-name--Pierre? `gehenJericho!'"
The man still stared.
"I say, `gehen Jericho!' and if you will, `danke schon,' and good luckto you. Oh, I say, do shut that ugly mouth of yours. What's the goodof keeping it open if you're not going to speak! There's no breakfasthere."
Pierre still stared, and Saxe swung round again and went on.
"It's too bad to be bothered by a foreigner like him," he muttered. "Imeant to have a regular natural shower-bath,"--he glanced up at thebeautiful spray fall beyond him as he said this to himself--"but now Ican't have it, with this fellow watching me, and it'll only mean a scruband rub."
He stopped and turned round again, to find Pierre in his old positionjust the same distance behind.
"I tell you what it is, old chap: if you don't shut up that mouth, Ishall be tempted to pitch a round stone into it; and if it wasn't forfear of getting up war between England and Switzerland, I'd come andpunch your head. Here, I say! Do you hear? Be off!"
Pierre stared.
"Oh! I know what you are," grumbled Saxe: "you're a cretin--an idiot.I suppose there are lots of you in the valleys. Here--hi! Catch!"
Saxe took a twenty-cent nickel coin from his pocket, and took aim.
"I'll pitch it right into his mouth," he said to himself. "There youare, old chap! Don't swallow it!"
He threw the coin so truly,
that if Pierre had stood still it would, inall probability, have gone where it was aimed. But the man's action wasas quick as that of a monkey. With one sharp dash of the hand he caughtthe piece, scowled as he found that it was not half a florin, and thenthrust it into his pocket and stared.
"Oh my!" muttered Saxe as he went on; "he's worse than that lost dog,who came and said to me that I was his master, and that he'd never leaveme as long as I lived. I hope this chap isn't going to follow me allthe time we're here."
He stopped once more.
"I say, old chap, do you want anything?"
No answer but the stolid stare.
"Don't you know that it's very rude? Bah! I might as well discussEuclid with old Gros. Just you wait till I've had my tub and got backto breakfast, and if I don't set old Melchior at you I'm a Dutchman."
Fully determined to take no more notice of the man, Saxe went on to thepool, had a comfortable wash in the sparkling water, which wasinvigorating to a degree, scrubbed himself dry, and all the time battledhard with an intense desire to throw stones at Pierre, who stoodwatching every act some ten yards away.
"Thank you," said Saxe at last, as he opened a pocket-comb, and began touse it to his wet hair: "I've quite done, thank you; but if I might giveyou a bit of advice, I wouldn't wash much this morning. Do it bydegrees. If you made yourself quite clean, you might catch cold; andbesides, the cows and goats wouldn't know you. `Morgen' once more."
Saxe started to return, leaving his stolid companion behind and fullyexpecting to hear him splashing in the pool; but two minutes later heexclaimed:
"No fear of his catching cold or frightening the cows. I don't believehe has had a wash for a month. Why, if he isn't following me again!Well, he shall run."
It was not a very satisfactory place for running, encumbered as it waswith stones; but Saxe was as active as most lads of his age, and hestarted off dodging in and out among huge blocks of granite, leapingfrom smooth glacier ground rock to rock, making good speed over thepatches of level grass and whin, and sending the blood coursing throughhis veins in the bright morning air; but to his intense annoyance hefound that his activity was nothing to that of the heavy, dirty-lookingbeing who kept up easily close to his heels, for every now and then theman leaped from rock to rock as surely as a goat. But growing a littleout of breath, and thinking at last that it was of no use to tirehimself so soon in the morning, the boy slowly settled down into a walkjust as a loud jodel came echoing from the sheltered hollow where thechalet stood.
"Hallo!" said Saxe, whose good humour came back at the thoughtsconnected with that cry. "There's old Melk ringing the breakfast bell;"and once more he stopped, placed his hand to the side of his mouth, andjodelled.
"There, old chap, what do you think of that?" he said, looking back atPierre, who stood rooted there with quite a different expression uponhis countenance. The heavy, vacant look had given way to one of utterastonishment, wonder flashed from his eyes, and as Saxe grasped thereason he swung himself round in dudgeon.
"Oh, you ignorant donkey!" he muttered: "it was as good a jodel as oldMelk's. I said you were an idiot, and this proves it: never heard anEnglishman jodel before?"
Five minutes after he was enjoying the steaming hot coffee and deliciousmilk, butter, eggs and bread, discussing--often with his mouth toofall--the plans of the coming day's work.
The Crystal Hunters: A Boy's Adventures in the Higher Alps Page 17