However, when it is a matter of real need with me, I trust I shall
never be backward, being resolute by nature and well-trained in bodily
exercise. Where James Bruck went, I was determined to go, also;
though it might cost me some uncomfortable falls. But it was not the
same with the first magistrate of Morganton, less young, less
vigorous, larger, stouter, and less persistent than we others.
Plainly he made every effort, not to retard our progress, but he
panted like a seal, and soon I insisted on his stopping to rest.

In short, it was evident that the ascent of the Great Eyrie would
require far more time than we had estimated. We had expected to reach
the foot of the rocky wall before eleven o'clock, but we now saw that
mid-day would still find us several hundred feet below it.

Toward ten o'clock, after repeated attempts to discover some more
practicable route, after numberless turnings and returnings, one of
the guides gave the signal to halt. We found ourselves at last on the
upper border of the heavy wood. The trees, more thinly spaced,
permitted us a glimpse upward to the base of the rocky wall which
constituted the true Great Eyrie.

"Whew!" exclaimed Mr. Smith, leaning against a mighty pine tree, "a
little respite, a little repose, and even a little repast would not
go badly."

"We will rest an hour," said I.

"Yes; after working our lungs and our legs, we will make our stomachs
work."