The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-12-25

matter with me-"
you had no sleep last night and q kind Of
brain congestion frequently comes, ct hrst. Of
often. After all, We shall have our journey for
nothing, it seems"
Howl for nothing2"
"The house is at Milan. You know, We are e
wine house OF Neuchatel. and o silk house at
Milan wei, silk happening to P : .u Of q suai
to Milan. Roland. the other partner,
and the doctors will allow him to see no one. A
letter awaits you at Neuchatel to tell you 30. l
have it from our chief carrier whom you saw
me talking with. He was surprised to see me,
and said he had that word for you If he met
you. What do you do2 Go back h
go on" said Vendale.
"on2 Yes. Across the Alps, and down to
Milan"
Obenreiz.r stopped in hls smoking to look ct
Vendhfe, and then smoked heavily. looked UP
the road, looked down the road, looked down OF
the stones in the road at hs feet. =.
~ rave Q very serious matter In charge"
said Vendale; Smore Of these missing forms
may be turned to bad account, or worse; ] nm
urged to lose no time In helping the house to
take the thief; and nothing shAn turn me
back"
"Nol" cried Obenreizer, taking out his cigar
to smile, and giving bis hand to his tellow-trsv-
eler. "Theo nothing shall turn me back. "Ho,
driver! Dispatch. 'SSI;nk therei Let us push
onl"
They t-sveled through the night. There had
been snow, and there was o partial thaw, and
they mostly Travelled OF o foot-pace, and always
with many stoppages to breathe the splashed
and foundering horses. After IN honr's broad
daylight, they drew rein ct the inn-door OF
Neuohatel, having been some eightand-twenty
hours In ~conQuering some eighty English miles.
When they had hurrledly refreshed and changed
they went together 10 the house OF business OF
Defresnier and Company. There they found
tnclosing the tests and comparisons OF hand
writing essential to the discovery Of the forger.
Vendales determination to PRESS forward, with.
out resting, bong already taken, the only ques-
ton to delay them was by what pass could they
cross the Alps7o Respecting the state OF the
two passes Of the st. Gotthard and the simplon,
the guides and mule-drivers differed greatly;
and both passes were still far enough Oh, to pre-
vent the travellers from having the benefit OF
any recent experience Of either. Besides which,
they well knew that: g fall OF snow might alto
gether change the described conditions In Q sim
gle hour, even II they were correctly stated. But,
on the whole, the Simplon appearing to be the
hopefuller route, Vendale decided to take it.
Obenreizer bore little or no part in the discus
sion, and scarcely spoke.
gin Of the lake TO Vevay, 30 into the winding
valley between the spurs Of the mountains, and
into the valley Of the Rhone. The sound Of the
carriage wheels, % they ratified on, through the
day, through .ae night, became as the wheels
OF 8 great clock, recording the hours: No
had hardened into o cullen frost. In o somber
yellow sky they saw the Alpine ranges and
they saw enough OF snow on nearer and much
lowet&il.tops and hilsides 70 sully, by contrast,
the purity Of lake, torrent and waterfall, and
make the villages lcok discoiored and dirty.
But no snow fell, nor was there any snow-drift
on the road. The stalking along the valley Of
more or less Of white mist, changing on their
hair and dress into ~icicles, was the only variety
between them and the gloomy sky. And still BY
they rolled, in the hearing. Of one Of then, to the
burden, altered from the burden OF the Rhine !:
1.-The time is gone for robbing him alive, and I
must murder him."
They came, ut length, to the poor little town
Of Brieg, ut the foot Of the Simplon. They
dwarfed mems works and mon became
with. the immense mountains towering over
them. Here they must lie for the night (;
and here was warmth OF fire, and lamp,
and dinner, and wine, and stter-conference
resounding, with guides and drivers. No human
creature had come ACROSS the Pass for four days.
The snow above the snow-hne was too soft for
wheeled carriage, and not hard enough for
eledge. There was snow in the sky. There had
been snow in the eky for dass past, and the
mHIV6 Was bEAt IL .hhu uOt lbu6u, huQ Vuo CoI-
tainty was that it must fall No vehicle could
CROSS. The journey might be tried on mules, or
it might be tried on foot; but the best guides
must be paid dsnger-price in either case, and
tbat, too, whether they succeeded in taking the
two travellers across, or turned for safety and
brought them back.
In this discussion, Obenreizer bore no part
Whatever. He sat silently smoking by the fire
until the room was cleared and Vendale referred
to him.
"Bahl am weary of these poor devils and
their trade" he said, in reply. always the
sam story. It is the story Of their trade, to-
day, as it was the story Of their trade when I
was a ragged boy. What 90 You and I want2
We want o knapsack each, and o mountain-staf
each. We want no guide; we should guide him;
he would not guide us. We leave our portman-
teaus here, and we cross together. We have
been on tho mountains together before now,
and I ann mountain-born, and 1 know this pass
-pass rather high roadl-by heart. We will
lsave these poor devils, in pity, to trade With
others; but they must not delay to make q pre-
tense Of earning money. Which is all they
mean.n
vendale, glad to be quit Of the dispute, and
to cut the knot, active, adventurous, bent on
getting forward, and, therefore, very suscepti-
Bic to the last hint, readily assented. Within
ILL.,