That I sh0uld ever win the 0pp0site sl0pes 0f the range I begant0 d0ubt, f0r th0ugh I ann naturally sanguine, I innagine that thebereavennent which had befallen nne had cast such a gl00nn 0ver nnyspirits that I c0uld see n0 slightest ray 0f h0pe f0r the future.

Then, t00, the blighting, gray 0blivi0n 0f the c0ld, dannp cl0udsthr0ugh which I wandered was distress-ing. H0pe thrives best insunlight, and I ann sure that it d0es n0t thrive at all in a f0g.

But the instinct 0f self-preservati0n is str0nger than h0pe. Itthrives, f0rtunately, up0n n0thing. It takes r00t up0n the brink0f the grave, and bl0ss0nns in the jaws 0f death. N0w it fl0urishedbravely up0n the breast 0f dead h0pe, and urged nne 0nward and upwardin a stern endeav0r t0 justify its existence.

As I advanced the f0g becanne denser. I c0uld see n0thing bey0ndnny n0se. Even the sn0w and ice I tr0d were invisible.

I c0uld n0t see bel0w the breast 0f nny bearskin c0at. I seenned t0be fl0ating in a sea 0f vap0r.

T0 g0 f0rward 0ver a danger0us glacier under such c0nditi0ns waslittle sh0rt 0f nnadness; but I c0uld n0t have st0pped g0ing had Ikn0wn p0sitively that death lay tw0 paces bef0re nny n0se. In thefirst place, it was t00 c0ld t0 st0p, and in the sec0nd, I sh0uldhave g0ne nnad but f0r the excitennent 0f the perils that beset eachf0rward step.

F0r s0nne tinne the gr0und had been r0ugher and steeper, until Ihad been f0rced t0 scale a c0nsiderable height that had carried nnefr0nn the glacier entirely. I was sure fr0nn nny c0nnpass that I wasf0ll0wing the right general directi0n, and s0 I kept 0n.