On he went, through another chamber, and into a spacious hall with marble floors and hangings of rich tapestry. On both sides were rows of courtiers and officers, the rich costumes and nodding plumes and splendid uniforms, with their jewelled orders, contrasting strangely with the lad's plain, homespun garments. "It is the emperor," whispered the guide as they drew near a canopied throne, and Franz dropped on one knee.
He felt the hand which was placed on his bowed head tremble, and a kind voice said, "Rise, my boy! kneel not to me! It is I, thy emperor, who should rather kneel to do thee homage for thy filial piety. My brave lad, I know thy story well! Ask of me a place near my person, aid for thy sick mother, what thou wilt, and it is granted thee! And remember that as long as the Emperor of Austria shall live he will feel himself honored in being known as thy friend!"
In a short time another summons came, this time from the hospital. At the end of a long row of beds lay Nicholas, with his arm bandaged and strips of plaster covering the gashes on his forehead.
"Oh, Franz!" he groaned, "if God has forgiven me, why cannot you? And you will believe that I speak the truth when I tell you that I was sorry for what I had done, and I had turned to go back and unbolt the door when I tripped and fell."
Franz bent over him with a bright smile. "I forgive you everything, Nicholas," he said, sweetly, "so please let us say no more about it. It wasn't a bad exchange. I lost an enemy but I gained a friend," and the hands of the two boys met in a firm, loving grasp.
THE DANGERS OF AVALANCHE, GLACIER, CREVASSE, AND PRECIPICE.
This is the season when the mountaineer once more takes down his Norfolk jacket, his nailed boots, and his ice-axe, and prepares to face the perils that may lurk for him above the snowline.
Strictly speaking--from the point of view of the expert who knows and does everything that an expert ought to know and do--mountaineering has two dangers only. There is the danger of bad weather, and there is the danger of the falling stone. But every climber is not an expert, and even of experts it may be said that _nemo horis omnibus sapit_. So that there are all sorts of dangers to be reckoned with, and foremost among them is the avalanche.