"See it pour! And just hear the thunder!" said Joe, looking out of
the car window. "It sounds as if giants were rolling rocks down the
mountain sides. I hope they will not hit our train."
"Look! The train is stopping," said Jack. "The conductor says we must
all get out here and take another train. How can we change while it is
pouring so hard!"
The rain was really pouring down so fast that umbrellas were of no use
at all. But the Overall Boys ran to the end of the platform and climbed
into the high front seat of a queer little car.
It was certainly the strangest car the boys had ever seen. It was built
so that one end was much higher than the other end, and people had to
go up some steps to get into it.
[Illustration: _"We are climbing right up the side of a mountain"_]
In a few moments the little train was moving slowly up the steep track.
"Where do you suppose we are going?" cried Joe. "I believe we are
climbing right up the side of a mountain. My! How it rains! I guess we
are up among the clouds."
"We shall soon be up above the clouds," said Jack. "We are climbing
Mount Rigi. We are going to stay all night on the mountain, too."
And so it happened. The train was soon pulled up the steep mountain
side until it was above the rain and the wet clouds. The sun was
shining brightly up there, but the valleys below were covered with a
thick white blanket.
At last the sun and the wind began to carry great pieces of the cloud
blanket high into the sky. Through the openings in the clouds, below
them the boys could see tiny villages and blue lakes.
And away down below, hanging in the soft white clouds, was a
rainbow--all red and orange and yellow and green and blue and violet.
"Look! We are above the rainbow bridge!" cried Joe. "If only I could
jump over on it, I could slide right down to the earth again."
"Why, you are on the earth now," said Jack.
"Oh, so I am! But isn't it wonderful up here!"
The boys watched the fluffy clouds blow far away, carrying the lovely
rainbow with them. And they watched the great red sun drop down behind
the snow-covered mountains in the west.
[Illustration: _The boys watched the fluffy clouds blow far away_]
Suddenly Joe cried, "Those mountains are on fire, Jack! Look! How can
they burn when they are all covered with snow?"
"It looks as if the red-hot sun had set the world on fire this time,
doesn't it?" cried Jack.
But it hadn't, though the mountains were rosy for a long time after
darkness had come in the deep valleys below. The great round moon
climbed slowly up the sky, and millions of stars peeped down at the
boys.
They had never been so near the stars before. They were almost six
thousand feet nearer than they were on the ocean steamer, and six
thousand feet are more than a mile.
At last the boys were so tired they went into a small hotel, high on
the mountain, and were soon tucked away in two narrow white beds. For a
few moments they lay very still, then Joe whispered, "Jack, do you hear
those bells tinkling, out on the mountain side?"
And Jack whispered, "Yes, Joe. They are cow bells. You know five
thousand cows are pastured on this mountain in the summer time."
"From the sound, I guess they all wear bells, too," said Joe. "Isn't it
lovely! The bells make me so sleepy."
[Illustration]
[Illustration: ON MOUNT RIGI.]
[Illustration]