Part 5 (1/2)
It had not been necessary for us to pa.s.s through Bern; it was, in fact, a few yards more or less out of the most direct path. We chose this route simply and solely with the view of paying a visit to the Bears. Molly had never met them; I had neglected them since childhood; Jack looked forward to the pleasure of introducing them to his wife.
It was on our way to call upon the Bears, that destiny seduced me to turn my head at a certain moment, and look into a shop window.
Suddenly the flame of my desire for the walking solo with a mule accompaniment (somewhat diminished lately, I confess) leaped up anew.
There were things in that window which made a man long to be a hermit.
”Mrs. Winston.” I cried (Molly was driving), ”for goodness' sake stop.”
In an instant the car slowed down. ”What is the matter?” she implored.
”Are you ill? Have we run over anything?”
”No, but look there,” I said eagerly. ”What an outfit for a camping tour! My mouth waters only at sight of it.”
”Greedy fellow,” commented Jack from the tonneau. ”Drive on, Molly.
Get him past the shop. He doesn't really want any of those things, and wouldn't use them if he had them. The sooner he forgets the better.”
”Never shall I forget that Instantaneous Breakfast for an Alpiniste,”
I fiercely protested, ”and I will have it at any cost. I know there's no other shop on the Continent like this, and I shall buy an outfit for myself and mule, here, if I have to come back from Lucerne by train for it.”
”Hang your mule!” exclaimed Jack. ”I was hoping you'd forgotten all about him by this time, and had made up your mind to go on with us indefinitely.”
I saw reproach blaze through the talc triangle in Molly's mushroom.
(Yet I thought she liked me, and had not, thus far, found ”three a crowd.”)
”Lord Lane isn't a _chameleon_, Jack,” said she, ”that he should change his mind every few minutes. _Of course_ he's going to have his mule trip. And as for this shop, all those dear little pots and kettles and things in the window are too cute for words. He _shall_ have them.”
Was I to be a bone of contention between husband and wife?
”Please, both of you come in and help me choose,” I meekly pleaded, in haste to restore the peace which I had broken.
We got out, and a small crowd collected round the car, Gotteland standing by with his chin raised and the exact expression of the frog footman in ”Alice in Wonderland.” One would have said that he saw, afar off, the graves of his ancestors, on the summit of some lonely mountain.
It was what Molly would have called a ”lovely” shop, and it did business under the strange device: ”Magasin Suisse d'Equipment Sportif.” The name alone was worth the money one would spend.
Everything to cover the outer, and nourish the inner sportsman, was to be had. I felt that I could scarcely be lonely or sad if I possessed a stock of these friendly articles. Jack's ribald advice to buy a pelerine, and a green-loden Gemsjager hat with a feather, stirred me neither to smiles nor anger, for Molly and I were already deep in exploration.
The first thing I bought was a mule-pack. Being a merciful man, I chose one of medium size, for already I could fancy myself becoming fond of the animal which was to be my companion in many wild and solitary places, and I did not wish to overburden him. I then, aided and abetted by Molly, began to choose the pack's contents.
An ”_Appareil de cuisson alpin, Ideal_” went without saying, like the air one breathes. It composed itself, according to the voluble attendant who displayed it, of six parts, each part far better than the others. There was a _gamelle_, with a ”_crochet pour l'enlever_”
and a _couvercle_, which, not to show itself proud, would lend its services also as an _a.s.siette_ or a _poele a frire_. There was the burner of alcohol; there was ”_le couvercle de celui-ci_,” which served equally to measure the spirit, and there was a charming _appareil brise vent_ which had the air of defying tornadoes. When I had secured this treasure, Molly drew my attention to a series of aluminium boxes made to fit eggs and sandwiches. I bought these also, and, pleased with the clean white metal, invested in plates, goblets, and water bottles of the same. Next came a _couvert pliant_, containing knife, fork, and spoon; and, lest I should be guilty of selfishness, I ordered a duplicate for the man who would look after the mule. Best of all, however, were the tinned soups, meats, vegetables, puddings, and cocoas, which you simply set on the fire in their bright little cans, and heated till they sent forth a steamy fragrance. Then you ate or drank them, and were happy as a king.
Molly and I selected a number of these, and completed the list with a sleeping bag and a _tente de touriste_, which she persuaded me would be indispensable when lost in the mountains, as I was sure to be, often.
When my goods and chattels came to be collected, we were shocked to find that the mule-pack would not contain them. The question remained, then, whether I should sacrifice these new possessions, already dear, or whether I should doom my mule to carry a greater burden. The attendant intimated that Swiss mules preferred heavy loads, and had they the vocal gifts of Balaam's a.s.s, would demand them. Swayed by my desires and his arguments, I changed my pack for a larger one. After more than an hour in the shop, we tore ourselves away, leaving word that the things should be sent by post to Lucerne. We then repaired to the Bear Pit, by way of the Clock, and having supplied ourselves with plenty of carrots, had no cause to complain of our reception.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
CHAPTER V