The Argosy — page 227: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

210 Letters from Majorca. That one half hour saved me. I was a long way behind, and no one saw my humiliation. It was a horrible motion. I mounted the rug between the paniers, and you cannot imagine a more uncomfort- able seat. My legs disappeared, but I never knew where or how. The mule ambled with a kind of wobbling motion that quickly produced a feeling of seasickness. I can describe it in no other way. Every now and then it stumbled, and I only saved myself from pitching over its head by hanging on to the mane. The paniers swayed from side to side, exactly asa vessel rolls at sea. Once they turned round and I found myself on the ground, feeling as if the world had turned upside down. But it was I who had done so, not the world. ‘The boy stopped the mule and put everything right again, but I had had enough of the animal. Henceforth, come what might, I would trust to my Own powers. I rather began to repent my folly in ascending the Puig Major. A. and B. were always far ahead. ‘To them the ascent was child’s play, as it was to H. C., who went swinging on with his everlasting regulation-step, until I almost wished the earth would open and swal- low him up. It was very provoking; but I had the best of it, inasmuch as I kept up with the mule, which bore the supplies. I know they were all a little uncomfortable, fearing that I should find it necessary to draw largely upon the wine. Yet, with all its drawbacks, it was a strangely pleasant expedition. Occasionally our pathway opened out upon a broad mountain side, and we found ourselves in a small wood with a gentle stream running through it. Here we would all meet and rest, and look out upon the world below ; valleys and passes and opposite hills. We sat on great stones that lay about the pools and the running water ; and the mule waited patiently ; and the boy every now and then took a sly peep into the paniers, evidently wondering how much of the good things would fall to his share. Continual dropping will wear away a stone ; step by step, the ladder of life is climbed; the heights are reached, and the downhill journey commences. It is then that the years begin to pass as a tale that is told. So, by patience and perseverance, we may climb the highest peak in the world. But, there are conditions to this: many of these lie in the elements, as they did to-day. We went onwards and upwards with a courage that was meritorious. We continued to hope against hope with the persistence of sanguine temperaments. A.’s everlasting ‘Wait until twelve o’clock,” had its effect upon our imaginations, if not our reason. ‘The Puig Major was still cloud-capped. Once, indeed, it all rolled away for a few moments, leaving the peak clear and sharply outlined. ‘I told you so!” cried A., and H.C. gave a feeble cheer which died half uttered, for before the hills could carry on the fainting echoes, down swept a mass of vapour more dense than ever, and the Puig Major became once for all invisible. COMIC OOOKS. CO