View PDF version of this page

FROZEN EUROPE 25 peaks piled high in the air like thunder clouds. Early in the night we passed the Mont Cenis tunnel ; and, before going to bed, I wrapped myself up closely and went out at the end of the car on to the'balcony, hoping to feel on my cheeks the touch of a suaver air. Never had its bite been sharper, although not a wind was stirring, except that caused by our own motion. But the spectacle before me was almost staggering in its beauty. The naked moonlight falling on peak and precipice dazzled the eyes with an unearthly illumina-tion. Passes and gorges towered to right and left of me ; the snow, like birds' nests, hung in the climbing pine woods ; and the stars, clear as diamonds, rested sparkling on the mountain-tops. And through it all, with its swing and its fierce clanking, feeling its way, the black train was sweeping. Below me were frozen rivers, expanses of silent ice, which now and again flashed with a glare like fire ; and down the middle, a ribbon of curving darkness, hurrying water flowed with a noise that was heard fitfully. I waited and watched, expecting every moment to see the prospect open, revealing the plains of Italy. But I waited in vain, till my ears stung with cold. We passed out of one gorge only to find ourselves in another ; and still in the distance was range after range of white-ness, and walls of dazzling snow that seemed to rise up to heaven. My feet presently began to grow cold also. I made my retreat into the drowsy, lamp-lit car, and was soon falling asleep in a world of curtains and dressing-bags.

View PDF version of this page