The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-11-29
UNDER THE ICE.
THE ALPINE HUNTERS MIRACULOUS EscA

| Translated from the German
There was no Drawer guide, or more skillful
hunter, that ever set foot upon the Materhorn. or
crswed over the dangerous glaciers of Monte
| Roea, than Uric Peterson. He was man OF i'm.
meDse strength and great daring; and had often
| tracked the wilderness of snow when those who
followed the same cal ing willingly remained in
their cottages in the wei protected villages. He
| laughed at his companions, when they talked of
| danger and made light of the fears Of his good
wife. when she trembled at the bowling Of the
fierce .isss, or n. .ve'.acne Of snow, snar now
| the little chalets With well spiked shoes, stout
apenstock, confidence in himself, and firm and
re vent trust in God, he svowed that man was as
safe upon the topmost cliff of the cloud piercing
| Matterhorn as 10 the brook threaded valley Of
| Tourmanches. But the timid heart Of womanhood
could not look upon the matter in the same light,
although her trust in the good Lord was equally
strong and so, when she saw him take down his
| trusiy rife, powder-horn and heavily shod iron
staff, one morning. she chung to him, and begged
| that he would not go upon the mountains.
There is every sign OF q Storm" she said. You
know how terrible they are. We have food
enough in the cottage. Do stay at home with the
| little ones" IA
"That would /, wife," was the reply, "h had
| not seen an ibex as was coming home, yesterday
| evening. He was stout old fellow, with huge
| horns; and fancied he was almost laughing at
me, as crept around the cliff upon which he was
| standing"
coming"
al have been in many one, and care nothing
| for them. love the free whstling of the wind
upon the mountain tops, and the whirling of the
| festhery snow. So, good wife, get me something
to eat. must be of before the dsy dawns."
With heavy sigh the woman did as be had re-
quested; and with his fond kiss still lingering upon
her lips, she saw him climb the mountain side un-
til turn in the path hid him from her view. Then
she sunk upon her knees, by the bedside of her
still slumbering children, and committed him into
h a.x. t..rx ~ hat Ia H. LA1 g
served him in the midst of every danger. Mean
| time, Uric FASTENED onward with light foot. II
was still dark in the valley but far above him he
could see the white peaks glittering in the dim
twilight OF the morning and the fast palng stars.
Higher and higher he climbed and soon the sun
arose, shedding it's rays of rosy gold upon the icy
| piles and making them fash as If builded of my
| Rad diamonds. To stranger il would have been
dszzling sight to the brave hunter 1t had lost
something of its charm by familiarity, and he
pressed onward and upward. The road grew
| more rough and difficult He was obliged to pick
his way, TO Chamber up steep crsgs but at last
he reached the edge of large glacier. BE sat
down and rested for little time satisfied his hun
ger, examined his shoes and the point of his al.
| penstock, and again set bravely forth, leaping
the yawniDg chasms, and guarding against the
| treacherous cracks.
| A wall of polished ice arose before him, and he
| knew that he would have to scale 1t before he
| could get within shot of the coveted game. With
| great difficulty 1t was accomplished, and finding
the tracks of the hex he followed them until sud-
denly turning rugged point he found himself
within easy shot, and in an instant the report of
his rifle had awakened the echoes of the moun.
tains. With the thud of the bullet the beast
spraDg forward but its tail was dropping its head
hsnging heavily down, its gait slow and step un.
certain. He knew that the whizzng lead had
reached its mark; that the animal would soon
die and he paused TO reload his rife before be
followed him. 81 will surprise my good wife,
thought he, "by returning sooner than she ex-
nQntQ6 | w a IN LAM ~ fhaa
towards who dared not venture from their snug
cottages for fear Of a storm" a"
With smile upon his lips he FASTENED to where
the ibex was lying, and raised it in his arms.
Then, with cry OF horror, be felt his footing give
way; and hunter and game were swallowed up in
a crevasse of almost unfathomable depth. The
thin covering of ice had been sufficiently strong TO
bear the weight of the beast, but that of Uric
added had shivered it as if 1t had been an egg.
shell. lH
Down. down. Hunter and ibex, through the
debris of snow and ice. lying there for thousand
years. He fancied that the bottom would never
be reached. The most profound darkness en-.
veloped him his hand could clutch nothing but
dsmpness- but chilling fakes. Fortunately, the
carcass Of the beast was beneath him. Yet for
ell that safeguard he lay for long time nsensibe.
dawned, and its golden gories had found their
way even to the bottom of the yawning grave in
which he was lying. He thought upon the utter
helpessness of his situation that he must perish
lingering
he would be forced to endure, before death came
to put an end to his misery and every nerve in
his body quivered with horror. He looked around
to see If there were not some possible chance OF
escape. On either side smooth ice walls arose,
emitting blush steel glitter. He felt that he
was buried alive 80, God Why was not in.
stantly killed." he exclaimed, in the agony of
despair. and then, as better thoughts swayed him,
he thanked the Almighty. with whom nothing is
impossible, for his safety thus far and prayed to
Him for guidance and deliverance.
His next thought was of his gun. When IL was
found that be did not return his neighbors would
certainly search for him. and by firing the gun, he
could attract their attention. Vain hope Search
as be would, he could find nothing OF It. Even if
he had discovered it, ii would have been useless,
for his powder horn was gone as well. Over and
over be turned the showdown deep he dug into
it, until his hands burned like fire, and great drops
of perspiration rolled from his forehead-untl his
arms grew stiff and sore, and he was forced to give
up the useless labor from sheer exhaustion. With
his back against the frozen prison walls, he looked
aloft and saw the great vuture sailing upon its
immense and tireless wings, around the mouth of
the chasm and the strong man shuddered, as he 4
shook his fist defantly, and murmured with his
hosrse voice, Your time has not come yeti" He
thought also of his happy home, of his dear wife
and children, and then. naturally for he was faint
and hungry, he thought of the food his wife had
prepared for him. Having eaten of the bread
and goats milk cheese, aud drank of the
little bottle of wine (which strange to say,
LAD renamed uDDroken). ne reasoned that
die, without an ssAAScqatr , zuu lie down and
goodness of God, and once more fervehtfie me
plored His help. Then bold idea came to him.
Why might he not cut his way through the solid
ice! He had a Ratchet. such as this class never
travel without. All but he was forgetful that
the walls might be hundreds of feet thick; that
they were of excessive hardness, and would soon
render blunt both Ratchet and knife. The bright
hope that had been born within him was darkened
by no such shadow. For the time being he knew
that be was safe. He was accustomed to the
cold, was wsrmly clad, could use the skin of the
ibex, in case of need, and its flesh would drive
away the wolves Of starvation for many q day. A
brief rest and be began the task and toiled faith
fully until darkness forced him to stop. A night
of uneasy rest, breakfast Of the raw flesh of the
ibex and he resumed his labors. Another day of
toll, and he again stretched himself upon the /
skin of the ibex, wrapping it arouni him az much
as was possible, and slept long and heavily
although there had been o sudden fall In the tenn.
perature, and IL Was nov excessively cold.
For four days he toiled thus, his only food the
raw and frozen nesh Of the ibex for four nights
be slept within the hole b had cut away in the
thick ce.wslls. closing up the entrance, and thus
obtaining partial shelter from the chilling blasts
And once hs heard the friDs Of guns end bis heart
n ssv.. - T.