But it was not the same with the first magistrate of Morganton, less young, less vigorous, larger, stouter, and less persistent than we others.
Plainly he made every effort, not to retard our progress, but he panted like a seal, and soon I insisted on his stopping to rest.
In short, it was evident that the ascent of the Great Eyrie would require far more time than we had estimated.

We had expected to reach the foot of the rocky wall before eleven o'clock, but we now saw that mid-day would still find us several hundred feet below it.
Toward ten o'clock, after repeated attempts to discover some more practicable route, after numberless turnings and returnings, one of the guides gave the signal to halt.

We found ourselves at last on the upper border of the heavy wood.

The trees, more thinly spaced, permitted us a glimpse upward to the base of the rocky wall which constituted the true Great Eyrie.
"Whew!" exclaimed Mr.Smith, leaning against a mighty pine tree, "a little respite, a little repose, and even a little repast would not go badly." "We will rest an hour," said I.
"Yes; after working our lungs and our legs, we will make our stomachs work." We were all agreed on this point.

A rest would certainty freshen us.
Our only cause for inquietude was now the appearance of the precipitous slope above us.