CHAPTER III.
THE LOWER GLACIERE OF THE PRE DE S.LIVRES.
I had intended to walk on from S.Georges to Biere, after returning from the glaciere last described, and thence, the next morning, to the Pre de S.Livres, the mountain pasturage of the commune of S.Livres,[18] a village near Aubonne.

But Renaud advised a change of plan, and the result showed that his advice was good.

He said that the _fermier_ of the Glaciere of S.Livres generally lived in S.Georges, and, if he were at home, would be the best guide to the glaciere; while the distance from S.Georges was, if anything, rather less than the distance from Biere; so that by remaining at the Cavalier for another night the walk to Biere would be saved, and the possibility of finding no competent guide there would be evaded.

Jules Mignot, the farmer in question, was at home, and promised to go to the glaciere in the morning, pledging his word and all that he was worth for the existence and soundness of the ladders; a matter of considerable importance, for M.Thury had been unable to reach the ice, as also my sisters, by reason of a failure in this respect.
In the course of the evening Mignot came in, and confidentially took the other chair.

He wished to state that he had three _associes_ in working the glaciere, and that one of them knew of a similar cave, half an hour from the one more generally known; the _associe_ had found it two years before, and had not seen it since, and he believed that no one else knew where it was to be found.