The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1864-03-19
THE PRorEssoR,s ADVENTURE

Between eight and ten years ago, On
gagged in long vacation campaign amonI
the Alps of Savoy. l way alone. II!
object was not amusement, but study.
occupy Professors chair, and l was en-
gagged in the collection of materials for
. work on the Flora of the higher Alps
and. to this end, travelled chiefly On foot
My route lay from the beaten paths ane
passes. often journeyed for days through
regions where there were neither inns mol
villages. | often wandered from dawn til
dark, among steril steps unknown even Il
the herdsman of the upper pastnrases
and untrOddsn save by the chamois anG
the hunter thought myself fortuHat,
at those times, if towards evening, l sue
ceeded in steering my way down to tn.
nearest chalet, where in company with 8
half savage mountainser and herd o.
nich goats, l might find the shelter Of 9
RATED roof, and supper Of black bread
and whey.
On one particular evening ! lad gone
further than usual, in pursuit Of the Sene-
clio unifioris; a rare plant which had hith.
erto believed to be indigenous to the
southern valleys Of Monte Rasa, but OF
which here succeeded in finding one or
two Indifferent specimens 1t was wild
| barren district, difficult to describe with
any degree of precision on tho map bat
lying among the upper defiles Of The Val
de Bagn~s, between the Mount Pleurer
and the Grand Conbin. On the waste Of
rock strewn moss to which had climed.
there WAS no 81 gn of human babItation -
Above NE lay the silver SUBMITS of the
Gratfeniere and Combn. To my left, the
| SUN was going down rapidly behind for
r IL. a l.
as we'll as could Judge iron, O.terwalds :
map, was the Mont Blanc de Cheilon In
ten minutes mere, those peaks would be
crimson; in one short hour, it would be
nig.t
TO be benishted on an Alpine plateau
towards :he latter end of September is
not a desirable position. knew it by re-
cent experiment. therefore began re-
tracing my route as rapidly as | could,
descending in a northwesterly direction,
and keeping sharp lookout for any chalet
tina, III igLt offer shelter for the night
Pushing forward thus, found myself pres
emily at the head of a little rerdaBt rayine,
chaunelled, as it were, in the face of the
plateau hesitstsd. 1t seemed through
the gathering darkness, as if could dis
Germ vague traces OF path trampled here
and there in the ravine tanded down to-
ward the upper pastures which were my
destination. BY following i. | could
scarcely so wrong. Where there is grass,
there IS generally cattle and a chalet: and
| might possibly find a nearer resting
place than | had anticipated. st s.l
events I.reso.eed TO trj It
Tn. rayine proved shorter than | had
expected, aud. instead Of leading imme
diately downward opened upon a second
plateau. through ~h'ch a we'll worn foot
Way struck of abruptly 10 The left Pur-
SUING this ieotway with what speed !
might, Icame, in the course OF a few E5ore
minutes, TO a sudden slope, al the bot
tom Of " hich, in a basin almost surround
ei Ly gigantic limestone cliffs, lay q small
dark lake few fields. and chalet The
rose ,ints had by this time come and gone,
and the snow had put on that ghostiy
gray with precedes the dark, before
cuuld siecend the slope, skiIt the lake.
and rnsun, the little emincnce on wtfich'
the mouse stood, shel,eted by rs back
ground of rocks in the sky.
! went up 10 the door and knocked;
no one answered i opened the door all
was dsik ! rau-ed-he!d my breath
listened f.ncisd could distinguish
low sound as of some c.e breathing /
knocked again Nv second knock Was
followed by quick noise; like the push
isg or :. char. and u mans voice said
hoArsrly:
Who is there
A traveller" l replied. seeking shelter
for the night
\ heavy foo,step crossed the floor, a
sharp fash sho, through the darkness.
aud saw BY ticllering of tinier man :
f..ce bending over lantern. Having light.
I'd IL he said with scarce a glance toward
tie door. enter traveller, and went back
10 his seat beside the empty hearth.
entered The chalet was of q better
sort than those usually found at so great
an altitude. consisting Of a dairy and a
houseulacs with a loft overhead "a table
with tnres or four wooden stools occupied
the cester Of the room The rafrers we're
hung with branches Of dried herbs and
long strings of Indian corn. A clock
ticke in the corner q kind of rude pallet
upon trestles stood in recess beside the
! fireplace and thro' lattice, at the furih-
crest end, could hear the cows feeding
in the clubhouse beyond.
Somewhat perplexed by the manner of
nv reception | unstraI ped my knapsack
and specimen box, took possession Of the
neares. stoel, and esked If | could have
supper
NV host looked up without the air Of a
man iuten, on other things. l repeated
the inquiry.
Yes, he said YEARLY; "you can eat,
| traveller
With this, he crossed to the other side
of the hearth stopped to "A dark object,
which unti. yrcrs | had not observed,
crouched in the corner, and mutcersd a
word OF two of unintellieible patois. The
subject moaned lifted up bewildered
wonaa's white face; and rose slowly from
the floor Tie heardsmaa pointed to the
table. and went back to his stool and his
former attitude.
The woman, st:er pausing he pless, as
if in the effort 10 remember something,
went cut into the dairy, came back with
brown loaf and pan of milk. aud set
them before me on the table.
As long as live, shall never for
get the expression of that womans S face
She was young and very pretty but her
beauty seemed turned to stone. Every
feature bore the seal OF an unspeaka6ie
terror Every gesture was mechanical
In the lincs that furrewed her brow. was a
hsgsardness Of age. In the locking OF
her lips, there was an anguish beyond tue
atterance Of words. Thou h she served
ne, do not think she saw me.
There was no apparent consciousness OF
any object or circumstance external 70 Inc
secret Of her ewn dsspnir. All this l no
ticed during the few brief moments IN
whie!. she brought ME my supper. mat
dsne, she cr~pt away, ahlect.y into the
same dark corner, and sank down asain' a
mere huddled heap o: clcshisg
AS for the husband, there was some
thing unnatural in the singular inmotli!ty
of his attitude. There lie sat, his body
bent forward, his chin resting on his
palms. his eyes staring fixedly at the
tlackened hearth. and not even tie m'ol
un,ary quiver of a nerve to show that he