They made a good landing, bestowed their gear in a cart, and set out for a long climb to Brattebo, which they reached in the late afternoon--a lonely farm on the side of a naked hill. They slept there, and were to rise at four for the snow-field. CHAPTER XXII CATASTROPHE They were up and away before the light, taking only one guide with them, a sinewy, dark man with a clubbed beard on his chin. If they had had two it had been better, and Urquhart, who knew that, made a great fuss; but to no purpose. All the men were at the saeters, they were told; haymaking was in full swing out there. There was nothing to be done. Urquhart was put out, and in default of another man of sense made James his partner in griefs. "I know these chaps," he said. "When they are alone they lose their heads. The least little difficulty, they shy off and turn for home. I judge this man of ours to have the heart of a mouse. He don't want to go at all. If there are two of them they egg each other on. They talk it over. Each tries to be the bolder man." "But is there going to be any difficulty?" James enquired, surveying the waste through his eyeglass. "I don't see why there should be." "You never know," Urquhart said curtly; but presently he was more confidential. "Don't tell that ass Lingen; but it might be quite difficult to get off this place." James stared about him. "You know best. But is it harder to get off than on?" "Of course it is, my dear chap," said Urquhart, quite in his old vein of good-tempered scorn. "We are going up on the north side, where the snow is as hard as a brick." "Ah," said James, "now I see. And we go down on the south, where it's as soft--" "Where it may be as soft as a bran-mash. Or blown over into cornices." James saw, or said that he did. In his private mind he judged Urquhart of trying to intimidate him. The vice of the expert! But he noticed that the guide had a coil of rope, and that Urquhart carried a shovel. It was easy going until near noon, with no snow to speak about. They climbed a series of ridges, like frozen waves; but each was higher than the last, and took them closer to the clouds. When they lunched under the shelter of some tumbled rocks a drifting rain blew across the desolation. "Jolly!" said James, but quite happily. Lingen shivered.