Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-08-17

! the crcvassc," was the reply. We were NIL so
stunned that for some moments we did not
| quite seize the import of the terrible statement.
Bennen ar length tossed his arms in the air, eX-
| claiming, "Jesu Marial what am to doP
| With the sWiftness that some ascribe to dreams,
| | surrounded the fact with imaginary adiuncts,
| one of which was that the man had been drawn
| dead from the erevasse, and was now n corpse
in the cave of the Faulberg; for | took it for
| granted that, had he been still entombed, his
| comrade would have run or called for our aid.
| Several times in succession the porter at1rmed
that the missing man was certainly dead. "How
| does he know that he is dead" Lubbock de-
| manded "a man is sometimes rendered in
sensible by a fall without being killed" This
| question was repeated in German, but met with
mani" | asked. "There," replied the porter,
stretching his arm toward the glacier "ln the
crevasse?" A stolid Gap was the answer. 1t
was with difficulty that quelled an impreca-
ton. LEAD the way to the place, you block
head" and he led the way.
We were soon beside a wide and Jagged cleft,
which resembed a kind of cave more than an
ordinary crevasse. This cleft had been spanned
by n snow bridge, now broken and to the edge
of which footsteps could be traced. The gla-
cer at the place was considerably torn, but sim
pie patience was the only thing needed to un-
ravel its completely. This quality our porter
lacked, and, hoping to make shorter work Of it,
he attempted to cross the bridge. 1t gave way,
and he went down, carrying an immense load of
debris along with him. We looked into the hole,
at one end of which the vision was cut short by
darkness, while Immediately under the broken
bridge it was crammed with snow and shattered
icicles. We saw nothing more. We listened
with strained attention, and from the depths Of
the glacier issued low moan. Its repetition
assured us that it was no delusion-the man
was still alive. Bennen from the first had been
extremely excited; and the fact of his having,
as a Catholic, saints and angels to appeal to-,
augmented his emotion. When he heard the
moaning he became almost frantic. He at
tempted TO get into the crevasse, but was
obliged to recoil. 1t was quite plain that
second life was in danger for my guide seemed
to have lost all sell-control. placed my hand
heavily upon his shoulder, and admonished him
that upon his GOODNESS depended the life of his
friend. eff you behave Ikea man we shall save
him; if like woman, he is lost"
first rate rope accompanied the party, but
unhappily it was with the man in the crevasse.
Goats, waistcoats and braces were instantly
taken off and knotted together | watched
Bennen while this work was going on; his
hands trembled with excitement, and his knots
were evidently insecure The last junction
complete, he exclaimed, Now let me downp
Not until each of these knots has been tested;
not an inch" Two of them gave way, and
LnbbOck's waistcoat also proved too teuder for
the strain. The debris was about 40 feet
from the surface of the glacier, but two inter-
mediate prominences afforded kind of footing.
Bennen was dropped down upon these; fol-
lowed, being lei down by Lubbock and the
other porter. Rennen then descended the re-
naming distance, and was followed by me.
Moe could not find room.
The shape and size of the cavity were such as
to produce kind of resonance, which rendered
It difficult to fix the precise spot from which
the sound issued; but the moaning continued,
becoming TO all appearance gradually feebler
Fearing to wound the man, the Ice rubbish was
cautiously rooted away; it rang curiously as it
fell into the adjacent gloom. A layer two or
three feet thick was thus removed; and finally,
from the frozen mass, and so bloodless as 10 be
almost as white as the surrounding snow, issued
single human hand. The fingers moved.
Round it we rooted, cleared the arm and reached
the knapsack, which we cut away, We also re-
gained our rope. The mans head was then
laid bare, and my brandy-fask was Immediately
at his lips. He tried to speak, but his words
jumbled themselves to duh moan, Bennen's
feelings got the better of him at intervals; he
wrought like hero, but at times he needed
guidance and stern admonition. The arms once
free, we passed the rope underneath them, and
tried to draw the man out. But the ice-frag-
ments around him had regulated so as to form
solid case. Thrice we essayed to draw him up,
thrice we failed; he had literally to be hewn out
OF the ice, and not until his last foot was eXtri-
Gated were we able TO lift him. BY pulling him
from above, and pushing him from below, the
man was at length raised to the surface of the
glacier
For an hour we had been in the creyasse in
shirt sleeVes-the porter had been in it for two
hours-and the dripping ice had drenched u.s.
Bennen, moreover, had worked with the energy
OF madness, and now the reaction came. He
shook as if he would fall to pieces; but brandy
and some dry covering revived him. The
rescued man was helpless, unable to stand, un-
able to utter an articulate sentence. Bennen
proposed to carry him down the glacier toward
home. Had this been attempted, the man
would certainly have died upon the ice. Ben
men thought he could carry him for two hours;
but the guide moderated his own exhaustion
and overrated the vitality of the porter at
cannot be thought Of" | said; "tO the cave of
Faulberg, where we must tend him as well as
we can" We got him to the side of the glacier,
where Bennen took him on his back; in ten
minutes he sank under his load. 1t was now
my turn, so | took the man on my back and
plodded on with him as far as was able. Help
ing each other by turns, we reached the noun
tain grot.
The sun had SET and the crown of Jungfrau
was Embedded in amber light. Thinking that
the Marjelin See might be reached before dark
ness, proposed starting in search of help. Ben
men protested against my going alone, and |
thought | noticed moisture in Lubbock's eye
Such an occasion brings out mans feeling if
he has any gave them both my blessing and
made for the glacier. But my anxiety to get
CltuI VI ll6 CTeNdSSeS lLS own
object Thrice found myself in difficulty, and
the light was visibly departing. The conviction
deepened that persistence would be folly and
the most impressive moment of my existence
was that on which stopped at the brink of
profound assure and looked upon the mountains
and the sky. The serenity was perfect-not a
cloud, not breeze, not a sound, while the last
hues of sunset spread over the solemn west
returned; warm wine was given to our pa
tent, and all our dry clothes were wrapped
around him. Hot water bottles were placed at
his feet, and his back was briskly rubbed. He
continued to groan a long time; but, finally,
both this and the trembling ceased. Bennen
watched him sOlemnly, and at length muttered
in anguish, "Sir, he isdeadP leaned over the
man and found him breathing gently; felt his
pulse-it was beating TRANQUILITY. "Not dead,
dear old Bennen; he will be able to crawl home
with us in the morning" The prediction was
justified by the event; and two days afterward
we saw him at Lax, minus bit ofhis ear, with
a bruise upon his cheek, and few scars upon
his hand, but without broken bone, or serious
injury of any kind.
The self-denying conduct of tie second porter
made us forget his stupidity-it may have been
stupeficatiOn. As lay there wet, almost reg
istered VOW never to tread upon glacier again.
But, like the forces in the physical world, hu-
man emotions vary with the distance from their
origin, and year atterWard | was apaiD nnnn