turn, now to the right, now to the left; and our progress was much
delayed. Soon the gorge became wholly impracticable; its cliff-like
sides offered no sufficient foothold. We had to cling by branches, to
crawl upon our knees. At this rate the top would not be reached
before sundown.

"Faith!" cried Mr. Smith, stopping for breath, "I realize why the
climbers of the Great Eyrie have been few, so few, that it has never
been ascended within my knowledge."

"The fact is," I responded, "that it would be much toil for very
little profit. And if we had not special reasons to persist in our
attempt"

"You never said a truer word," declared Harry Horn. "My comrade and I
have scaled the Black Dome several times, but we never met such
obstacles as these."

"The difficulties seem almost impassable," added James Bruck.

The question now was to determine to which side we should turn for a
new route; to right, as to left, arose impenetrable masses of trees
and bushes. In truth even the scaling of cliffs would have been more
easy. Perhaps if we could get above this wooded slope we could
advance with surer foot. Now, we could only go ahead blindly, and
trust to the instincts of our two guides. James Bruck was especially
useful. I believe that that gallant lad would have equaled a monkey
in lightness and a wild goat in agility. Unfortunately, neither Elias
Smith nor I was able to climb where he could.