three in the morning
They were toiling up a long , slanting ridge of snow -- twelve persons , roped together some fifteen feet apart , marching in single file , and strongly marked against the clear blue sky . One was a woman . We could see them lift their feet and put them down ; we saw them swing their alpenstocks forward in unison , like so many pendulums , and then bear their weight upon them ; we saw the lady wave her handkerchief . They dragged themselves upward in a worn and weary way , for they had been climbing steadily from the Grand Mulets , on the Glacier des Bossons , since three in the morning , and it was eleven , now . We saw them sink down in the snow and rest , and drink something from a bottle . After a while they moved on , and as they approached the final short dash of the home-stretch we closed up on them and joined them . Presently we all stood together on the summit !