As they drew he low hill which parated them from the place where the lighted windopeared, they had no general view of it at all. It was a question of eing the few paces ahead, and, even for that, you had to screw up your eyes. Needless to say, they were not talking. When they reached the foot of the hill they caught a glimp of what might be rocks on each side — squarish rocks, if you looked at them carefully, but no one did. All were more ed with the ledge right in front of them which barred their way. It was about four feet high. The Marsh-wiggle, with his long legs, had no difficulty in jumping onto the top of it, ahen helped the others up. It was a nasty wet business for them, though not for him, becau the snow now lay quite deep on the ledge. They then had a stiff climb — Jill fell once — up very rough ground for about a hundred yards, and came to a d ledge. There were four of the ledges altogether, at quite irregular intervals.
As they drew he low hill which parated them from the place where the lighted windopeared, they had no general view of it at all. It was a question of eing the few paces ahead, and, even for that, you had to screw up your eyes. Needless to say, they were not talking. When they reached the foot of the hill they caught a glimp of what might be rocks on each side — squarish rocks, if you looked at them carefully, but no one did. All were more ed with the ledge right in front of them which barred their way. It was about four feet high. The Marsh-wiggle, with his long legs, had no difficulty in jumping onto the top of it, ahen helped the others up. It was a nasty wet business for them, though not for him, becau the snow now lay quite deep on the ledge. They then had a stiff climb — Jill fell once — up very rough ground for about a hundred yards, and came to a d ledge. There were four of the ledges altogether, at quite irregular intervals.
As they struggled on to the fourth ledge, there was no mistaking the fact that they were now at the top of the flat hill. Up till now the slope had given them some shelter; here, they got the full fury of the wind. For the hill, oddly enough, was quite as flat on top as it had looked from a distance：a great level tableland which the storm tore across without resistance. In most places the snow was still hardly lying at all, for the wi catg it up off the ground is and clouds, and hurling it in their faces. And round their feet little eddies of snow ran about as you sometimes e them doing over ice. And, indeed, in many places, the surface was almost as smooth as ice. But to make matters wor it was crosd and crisscrosd with curious banks or dykes, whietimes divided it up into squares and oblongs. All the of cour had to be climbed; they varied from two to five feet i and were about a couple of yards thick. On the north side of each bank the snow already lay in deep drifts; and after each climb you came down into a drift and got wet.