|Those, we are told, who have heard the East a-calling “never heed
naught else.” Perhaps it is so; but they can never have heard the call
of Lakeland at New Year. They can never have scrambled up the screes of
the Great Gable on winter days to try a fall with the Arrow Head and the
Needle, the Chimney and Kern Knotts Crack; never have seen the mighty
Pillar Rock beckoning them from the top of Black Sail Pass, nor the inn
lights far down in the valley calling them back from the mountains when
night has fallen; never have sat round the inn fire and talked of the
jolly perils of the day, or played chess with the landlord--and been
beaten--or gone to bed with the refrain of the climbers' chorus still
challenging the roar of the wind outside--
Come, let us tie the rope, the rope, the rope,
Come, let us link it round, round, round.