The Leader of the Lower School: A Tale of School Life

by Angela Brazil

  CHAPTER XIV

  Mountaineering

  EASTER was drawing very near, and the school was to break up for morethan three weeks. Gipsy, to her intense delight, had been asked to spendthe holidays with the Gordons, and Miss Poppleton had graciously allowedher to accept the invitation.

  "We had meant to ask you for Christmas," said Meg, "and Mother had evengot as far as writing a letter to Poppie; then Billy broke out in spots,and the doctor said we might all have taken the infection, and we muststop in quarantine. It was a horrible nuisance. I felt so savage! But wecouldn't invite you to come and share measles! We're all looking forwardmost tremendously to your visit. I'm so excited I can hardly wait tillthe end of the term!"

  After six months spent entirely at Briarcroft, Gipsy felt that the ideaof a change was most welcome and exhilarating. She liked Meg, and wantedto see her home surroundings. The two younger sisters, Eppie and Molly,she knew already, as they were in the Lower Third and Second Forms, andshe had always set them down, in school parlance, as "jolly kids". Therest of the family she hoped would prove equally interesting.

  Poor Gipsy heaved many a sigh as she packed her box. Her outfit seemedsuch a very shabby one with which to go a-visiting, and she hoped Mrs.Gordon would not feel ashamed of her guest. At the last moment MissEdith, looking rather guilty and self-conscious, popped hastily into thebedroom and thrust a small parcel into her hand.

  "It's a little present, Gipsy dear," she said nervously, "just some newhair ribbons and a pair of gloves and a tie. You've no need to tell MissPoppleton or anybody that I gave them to you. Don't thank me--I'd ratheryou didn't! I do hope you'll enjoy yourself, you poor child!"

  "Oh, Miss Edie! If a letter should happen to come for me from SouthAfrica while I'm away, you'd send it on, wouldn't you?" asked Gipsywistfully.

  "I'd bring it myself, at once," returned Miss Edith, as she scuttled outof the room in a desperate hurry.

  Mrs. Gordon sent a cab to Briarcroft on breaking-up day, and whenGipsy's box had been placed on the top, Meg, Eppie, and Molly bore awaytheir guest with great rejoicing. The Gordons lived at an old-fashionedhouse about a mile from the school. It seemed quite in the country, withfields all round, and had an orchard and large garden, a pond, anasphalted tennis court for wet weather, as well as a grass one, and acroquet lawn.

  Mrs. Gordon welcomed Gipsy most kindly, and at once made her feel athome, and the remainder of the family were introduced by degrees. Mr.Gordon, a jovial, genial man, greeted her with a humorous twinkle inhis eye.

  "So this is Meg's idol! Glad to see you, my dear!" he remarked. "If youcan cure Meg of standing on one leg and puckering up her mouth when shetalks, I'll be grateful. She seems disposed to listen to you inpreference to anyone here, so please act mentor."

  "Oh, Dad! Don't be naughty!" shrieked Meg. "What will Gipsy think ofyou?"

  "A favourable opinion, I trust," laughed Mr. Gordon, as he vanished intohis own particular sanctum.

  Donald, Meg's elder brother, seemed disposed to be friendly; but Billy,the twelve-year-old offender who had started the family with measles,was afflicted with shyness, and preferred to inspect the visitor fromafar until he grew accustomed to her presence. Rob, the youngest, aroguish laddie of six, fell openly in love with Gipsy at first sight,and prepared to monopolize her company to an extent that Meg would by nomeans allow.

  "She's my friend, and hasn't come here to play with little boys. Runaway to the nursery, and leave us alone!" she commanded, enforcing herwords by a process of summary ejection, regardless of all wails.

  Gipsy had further to form an acquaintance with two dogs, three cats, adormouse, and a tame starling, before she was considered intimate withthe whole household, but after that she felt thoroughly at home.

  The Gordons were a particularly jolly, merry, happy-go-lucky set ofyoung people, and they made their guest so entirely welcome that at theend of a few days she might have known them all for years. Even thebashful Billy soon ceased turning crimson whenever he spoke to her,while Eppie and Molly disputed fiercely over the honour of sitting nextto her at tea. It happened to be a fine Easter, so outdoor occupationswere in full swing. Gipsy was an ardent tennis player, and revelled ingolf also. She and Meg and Donald made many cycling excursions, for theneighbourhood was pretty and the roads were good. With packets ofsandwiches tied to their handlebars they would start off for a wholeday's ride, to explore some ruined abbey or ancient castle, or to get apicturesque view of the fells. Donald, who was keen on collecting birds'eggs, would often stop the party, to hunt for nests in the hedges orbanks; while Meg, whose hobby at present was wild flowers, kept awatchful eye for any fresh specimens that she might find growing by theroadside.

  Mr. Gordon was an enthusiastic member of an Alpine Club, and he wouldsometimes take the elder and more reliable members of his family on tothe fells for mountaineering practice. Many of the rocks affordedexcellent training for Switzerland, without involving any specialdanger. These climbs were something quite new for Gipsy, and an immensedelight. She was very fearless, and had a steady head, so she proved anapt pupil. Mr. Gordon would show her exactly how she must place her feetand hold herself so as to take advantage of the tiniest and narrowestledges of rock, and she much enjoyed the excitement of accomplishing,under his guidance, what would have appeared to her impossibleperformances without his skilled advice. Meg and Donald had alreadyreceived some training, and when Gipsy was sufficiently advanced to beable to keep up with them, Mr. Gordon allowed them all three to venturewith him on a more difficult ascent, linked together with one of hisAlpine ropes. Gipsy was proud indeed as she stood at the top of a jaggedcrag and waved her hand to Billy, who was taking a snapshot of the partyfrom below.

  Poor Billy was liable to fits of dizziness since his attack of measles,and was not allowed any real climbing, so he consoled himself byfollowing the others about with a Brownie camera, and photographing themin the most dangerous-looking positions that he could catch.

  "Billy must do some extra prints, and you could put them in theMagazine," suggested Meg to Gipsy. "You could write an article on'Mountaineering in Cumberland'. It would be grand, and would make MaudeHelm gnash her teeth with envy."

  "Perhaps she's been doing something even more exciting to astonish uswith," laughed Gipsy. "I wish we could have climbed a real mountain,like Skiddaw."

  "Yes, there'd be some credit in that," commented Donald thoughtfully. Hesaid no more at the moment, but a few days afterwards, when the threeyoung people had set out on another cycling expedition, he had anenterprising plan to unfold.

  "I vote we ride as far as Ribblethwaite, leave our machines there, andthen climb Hawes Fell," he announced. "We've started so early we'd haveheaps and loads of time. It would be a thing worth doing! I didn'tbroach the idea at home because I knew the Mater'd be in such a state ofmind, and think we were going to break our necks. It will be time enoughto tell about it when we come back. Are you two game to go?"

  "Rather!" exclaimed both the girls rapturously.

  Gipsy, with her Colonial bringing up and independent American ideas, didnot realize any necessity to ask permission for such an expedition. Shehad been in far wilder places, and considered the Cumberland fellscivilized ground compared with portions of the Rockies and certainmountainous tracts of New Zealand with which she was familiar.

  If Meg had any qualms of conscience she contrived to quiet them with thecomforting assurance: "Dad would have taken us if he hadn't been busy athis office, and we can manage so well ourselves now, we can get on allright without him."

  Ribblethwaite was a pretty little village about six miles away, atypical north-country hamlet with its stone cottages, with mullionedwindows and flagged stone roofs, its grey turreted church tower, and itsquick-flowing, brawling river. It was well wooded, but it stood high,and at this early season of the year the trees were still bare, and onlya few green buds showed here and there on the hedges. The gardens werefull of golden daffodils and clumps of opening polyanthus; butprimroses--
which had long been in blossom in the sheltered garden atBriarcroft--were here only venturing into bud. As the inn looked cleanand attractive, the three decided to leave their bicycles there, and tohave a lunch of ham and eggs and coffee before setting out on theirclimb.

  "Then we can take our sandwiches with us. We're sure to want them upthere," said Donald.

  "Yes; best to fortify ourselves thoroughly before we start," agreed Meg.

  "Billy'll be fearfully sick when he hears where we've been," said Gipsy.

  "Poor old Billy-ho! Yes, he'd have liked to follow us with his camera;but he's not quite up to tackling Hawes Fell just at present," agreedMeg.

  The inn was a delightfully quaint, old-fashioned, primitive littleplace, such as is not often found in these days of modern improvements.Gipsy, who had had no opportunity before of seeing English country life,was enchanted with its sanded floor, its oak dresser with rows ofwillow-pattern plates, its pewter mugs and dishes, and the great brasspreserving-pan that was set in the ingle-nook. She admired the oak beamsof the ceiling, the rows of plant pots in the long mullioned window, thesettle drawn up by the big fireplace, and the glass cases of stuffedpike and game birds that adorned the walls.

  The lunch was a great success--a smoking dish of fried ham and eggs,home-made bread and farmhouse butter, thin oatcakes and moorland honey,and coffee, with thick yellow cream to pour into it.

  "Beats school, doesn't it?" said Donald, with a chuckle of enjoyment, ashe helped himself to a third serving of honey. "I say, though, weshan't have to stop too long feasting here if we mean to get to the topof Hawes Fell. It's a jolly good step, I can tell you."

  "We're ready!" returned Meg smartly. "We were only waiting for you tofinish gormandizing."

  "Thanks for the compliment! One doesn't get the chance of heather honeyevery day, and I've a remarkably sweet tooth. Anything in the way of jamor preserves left near me invariably vanishes."

  The way up the fell lay first over the old stone bridge that spanned theriver, then across fields, and by a narrow footpath leading up a steepand thickly-wooded hillside. Though the trees were still in their wintergarb they were none the less lovely for that; the lack of foliagerevealed the delicate tracery of their boughs and the beauty of theirstraight stems, which, in one or two terraced glades, were like thecolumns and shafts of some great cathedral. The sun shining down theglen gave a soft purplish tint to the bare twigs, and brought out inbolder contrast the deep dark green of the innumerable masses of ivythat had utterly taken possession of and choked some of the treessupporting them.

  "Isn't it glorious? I always say our fells need a great deal ofbeating," said Meg, who was an enthusiast over her native county. "Idon't believe there's a wood equal to this anywhere!" and she began tosing the old north-country ditty:

  "A north-countree maid Up to London had strayed, Although with her nature it did not agree. She wept and she sighed, And she bitterly cried: 'I wish once again in the north I could be! Oh! the oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree, They all grow so green in the north countree!'"

  "Don't know whether you'll get Gipsy to agree with you; she ought to bea dab critic of scenery by now," grunted Donald.

  "Oh, it's lovely!" said Gipsy, who was enjoying herself immensely. "Ofcourse it's quite, quite different from America, or Australia, or SouthAfrica. It's smaller, but it's prettier in its own way. It looks muchmore cultivated."

  "Ah! wait till you get right out on the moor at the top. You won'tinsult that by calling it cultivated."

  The woods were soon left behind, and the pathway led ever upwards, firstthrough a tangle of heather and bilberry and gorse; then, higher still,over short, fine, slippery tracts of grass. They were reaching the upperregion of the fell, where the hard rock cropped out into greatsplintered crags, weathered by countless winter storms, and where nobushes or softer herbage could face the struggle for existence. So farthe walk had been comparatively easy, but now the footpath haddisappeared, and they were obliged to trust to their knowledge ofmountaineering. The top still towered above them a very long way off,and they calculated it would need a two hours' climb before they couldreach the particular crag that marked the extreme summit.

  Donald assumed the leadership of the party, and, scanning themountainside with what he called an Alpine eye, decided which would betheir best course to pursue. There were several steep precipices andawkward places that must be avoided, for though they were all quiteready to try their skill at scaling rocks, it seemed no use to wasteunnecessary time over performing difficult feats.

  "I expect that last crag will give us enough practice in that," remarkedDonald. "I've brought a rope with me in case we want it--got it woundround and round my waist under my coat."

  "Oh, that explains why you look so stout to-day!" laughed Meg. "I shouldthink it's pretty uncomfortable."

  "Not a bit of it! It keeps me warm. I call it jolly cold up here."

  "I believe we've reached the Arctic zone!" agreed Gipsy.

  The air had undoubtedly grown colder with every hundred feet of theirascent. The sunshine had disappeared, grey clouds had gathered, andfeathery flakes of snow began to fall lightly. The grass was sooncovered with a thin white coating which gave a delightfully Alpineaspect to the scene. The prospect was glorious--the sharp, splintered,snow-crested crags stood out in bold relief against the neutral-tintedsky, and the long stretches of moor below them looked soft and blurredmasses of whiteness.

  "We can find our way home by our footsteps in the snow!" said Gipsy,drawing long breaths of the pure, exhilarating air.

  "I wonder if we ought to turn back," said Meg, rather doubtfully.

  "Turn back!" exclaimed Donald. "You don't mean to say you want to turntail now, Meg? Why, we're just getting to the exciting part!"

  "I was only thinking of the snow."

  "Why, that makes it all the more like Switzerland! You don't suppose Dadturns back at the snowline when he's doing a climb? We're in luck tohave the chance of a little snow. I wish there'd been a keen frost, andwe could have tried an ice axe somewhere. Pluck up your courage, Meg!You'll never do the Matterhorn if you shirk Hawes Fell!"

  Thus encouraged Meg said no more, though she had her private doubtsabout the wisdom of proceeding farther. It is an unpleasant task to be adrag on other people's amusement, and both Donald and Gipsy were verykeen on making the ascent. So they scrambled onward and upward, slippingoften on the rapidly freezing rocks, helping each other over difficultplaces, sighing for nailed boots and alpenstocks, but laughing andenjoying the fun of the adventure.

  To climb to the summit certainly taxed all their strength. The mountainseemed to heave before them in a succession of huge boulders, and aseach one was scaled another appeared beyond it. At length they reached apiled confusion of rocks, where a little cairn had been built of smallstones and loose pieces of shale.

  "There we are! The very place!" shouted Donald. "I knew we'd find it ifwe pegged along. Now, can you girls tackle this last bit? Wouldn't youlike to use the rope?"

  The final piece of crag was slippery enough to justify Donald's offer,and as he seemed particularly anxious not to have brought his rope invain, the others consented to give it a trial. With its aid thedifficult bit was accomplished fairly easily, and the three were soonstanding in triumph by the cairn, hurrahing and waving theirhandkerchiefs with much excitement.

  "I'm going to eat my sandwiches here; I'm fagged out," declared Gipsy,sitting down on a stone and suddenly realizing that she was tired andhungry.

  The others followed suit, very ready for a rest and a picnic. It was along time since their lunch at the inn, and the frosty air had giventhem keen appetites. It was too cold to sit still, however, for morethan five or ten minutes; a bitter wind had sprung up, and the snow,which had only fallen very lightly before, began to come down in thickerand heavier flakes.

  "We'd better be going, or we shan't be able to find our way," worriedMeg anxiously
.

  "Right-o! only we must each add a stone to the cairn first," repliedDonald. "I've a pencil here, and we'll write our names on them as proofconclusive that we've been, in case anybody doubts our word afterwards."

  So "Gipsy Latimer", "Margaret Gordon", and "Donald Alexander Gordon"were duly inscribed on smooth pieces of shale and placed as evidence onthe top of the pile, after which ceremony the three began their descentwith something of the feeling of Arctic explorers who had reached thePole.

  It was indeed high time to return. Clouds were blowing up fast, and withthe thickening snow began rapidly to obscure the view. The trio wentvery cautiously, trying to remember various landmarks which they hadnoticed on the way up. Gipsy's idea of retracing their footsteps in thesnow soon proved futile, for already all tracks were obliterated. It wasimpossible to see far in front of them, and but for the compass thathung on Donald's watch-chain they would have had no notion of where theywere going.

  "We must keep due west, and look out sharp for precipices. Don't let usget separated on any account. Hadn't we better use the rope again?"

  "I don't believe we're anywhere near the way we came up. I don'trecognize these rocks in the least," said Meg.

  "Never mind, if we get down somewhere to civilization," returned Gipsy.

  "Yes, but we don't want to be five miles away from our bicycles!"

  "We're all right!" exclaimed Donald jubilantly. "Here's the piece ofwhite quartz we were sitting on, I'm sure. Yes!" (grubbing about underthe snow) "I'm right, for here's a scrap of the silver paper from thechocolate we were eating. Hurrah! I'm going to set up for an Alpineguide!"

  The snow was clearing considerably as they got farther down themountainside, and after a while they were able to recognize variouspoints of the landscape, and realized that Donald's compass andinstinct for locality had led them correctly.

  "It was a narrow squeak, though," confessed Meg. "I don't mind tellingyou now that I thought we should have to stay up there all night! It'sgetting fearfully late--we must sprint back when we reach our machines."

  "We'll have some hot tea at the inn first," declared Donald. "You girlswill never sprint six miles without!"

  Very tired, but exceedingly proud of themselves, the mountaineersreached home at half-past eight, to find Mr. and Mrs. Gordon looking outanxiously for their return.

  "You young scamps! I'd no idea you were going climbing on your own!"said Mr. Gordon. "I'd have forbidden it if I'd known. Hawes Fell is anasty little bit at the finish."

  "But we did it, Dad!" cried Meg excitedly. "We put our feet on all theright ledges, just as you taught us. Oh! Don't you think I'm old enoughto go to Switzerland with you next summer, and try some real ice work?You promised you'd take me when I was fifteen!"