We halted at midday in an ugly-looking spot far up the shoulder of the
mountain that we were climbing, and through a break in the trees we
caught a glimpse of the Pacific. The ocean seemed directly beneath us,
and yet, as Edith Herndon expressed it, we seemed to be a thousand
leagues away from it.
[Illustration: "We halted at midday in an ugly-looking spot far up
the shoulder of the mountain."]
"This horrible silence makes me long for the clean sound of the waves,"
she whispered, as I rolled a stone over to make her a seat. "This
stillness stops one from speaking. Do you know that Barbara and I
haven't spoken a word during the last hour? We simply hadn't the courage
to make the effort."
Under the watchful eye of Leith I endeavoured to cheer her up, while
inwardly I cursed the prattling old Professor who chattered of the
honours he expected as the rewards of his discoveries. The affair was
enough to bring tears to the eyes of a man with a heart of stone.
"I'm just thinking we should have stopped this business before it got
this far," muttered Holman, as he reached closer to get a light for his
cigarette.
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