We stood up under a black sky so low that we felt as if we could nearly touch it. We had reached the top. What a task! Without the aid of guides we had at last reached our goal. Almost unconsciously our hands were locked, with a look of satisfaction at each other; not a breath nor a yell was uttered. We had not the breath to spare. It was XXXXXXXXXXXXX, ten o'clock in the morning, the temperature —16°; the altitude 20,391 feet. Then followed a long gaze over the cold wide world spread out at our feet… This lower world of lesser mountains did not impress us so much as the little sky-world about is. Here, under our feet, was the top of the continent, the north pole of our ambitions, probably the coldest spot on earth, and we were the most miserable of men at a time when we should have been elated.