Litchfield enquirer., 1873-10-16

kQ won kMA4k 1b qU1ke 11upOSSAUk0 bu0L we have seen the real, living Charlie WestT"
 ssGood Heavens what could bring I tell you, my dear sir, the thing IS ab- surd, impossiblei'
 Ido not believe in impossibifities unleSs where the bare statement of the case in- wolves irreconcilable contradiction. Tell me Charlie West is dead and yet living on tRe earth. and | say what you have told me is an impossibility. But assert that Charlie West, whom we all supposed to be dead in California or Meuco, is now alive in Switzerland, and may disbe- live, I may doubt, may require proof, but I certainly will not say the .thingIis impossible. So told MT. Kendall. He did not wish to adopt my view of the pos sibilites.
 ssNr. Kendall" I said at last, ssmy earnest advice to you is this. Receive Mr. pakon to-morrow, and tell him frank lv what has happened. Tell him, if you like. what you think of the matter; but do Cell him what has happened. Meanwhile I will endeavor to get to the heart of all thfs PrOceed upon the assumption that Charlie West is dead. will now go and seek for my old friend on the assump- ts0a that he is alive. He may be HOW in this very hotell"
 sSShal assist you in the search?"
 -"Thanks-1o. think shall do bet ter alone Yon are, in any case, staying here some days. Switzerland is a small plAce-&t least it seems very small to Eaza who has come from China-and if Charlie West is alive aIld in this country, and Is not purposely hiding from me, I shah fnd him or trace of him i'll forty esxhk hours. Goodnight"
 Of course the first thing to do was sim ply to inquire at the bureau of the Beau Rlx2ge. No Charles West was registered tA<Ee. The officials assured me that I had sen at the table d'hote nearly all the resident guests. But there was a Spanish ggnkleman who had private dinner-party tAak day. and there might have been an EngtlsAEan among the guests. The Spanish gentleman was not in the house a9w. Ills guests came, the clerk thought from the Hotel Gibbon. Lausanne
 Iwea& to the Hotel Gibbon straight WAY. No Charles West there. But I sozn3 tw0 Spanish names and that of an KExafShMAn ar American (AIr Leslie Rob- auex9xl registered as one party. Moreover scZnd that they had not dined in the &0@se that evening, and that they had I1sk left by the last train for Geneva.
 o~aered post-hOrses and went on to Ge@Ex& n wSs busy morning when I gwk tAeEe, &1dI went round all the hotels wSthozt S@aing any record of the party w&c@ had pursued thus far on so vague and wIl1 a conjecture. All could learn W&s thak ct the Hotel des Bergues three ce@zAs1nEa had arrived the night before, <AsFe tAeEe. and started early in themorn TT Ter CeaE0unix. No names were giv- S@> and tho only clew had to the identi ty af the paxsy vSs that they were three, tAsk o1@ of the three spoke for the whole, and thai he spoke French with a foreign @eusaL Jasf thInk of my wild goose cA@zes Twas hunting after a party of wA02 I knew nothing whatever, except t1e were Sp21i2rds, and one was an Eng ssAZ&a wAO gave hrs name as Leslie Rob- Sras. and \ WAS hunting them on the wild speculation thzs Leslie Roberts might tara cut tO be Charles West
 @Tm born idiots'' I said to myself And swing Sk, ordered a carriage and started for Chan0unix l slept nearly all the wzx- Scenery which for the latter kAlf of the journey has hardly a rival in shs wOrA passed this time unheeded un- der ny st1pS6e3 eyes When I woke 1t wzs 9EEse dark, and 1t was two in the @n<Zzmg before I got into Chamounix I WIS ualy too glad tO get into the first ho- tS wAsEA woald open for me It was h1pe1ess 10 think of setting about inquir- Ses tAAk nlghk vent to bed.
 Next EDxzlng early I went round the hSsHks. and found where my two Span zzr2s an1 Leslie Roberts were registered. Her h@d gOne of hours before, with gxs3ss t0 ascend Mont Blanc
 Nov, par Dsea. will climb Mont Blanc M 4 Mes& 1 knew 1t was he, but not for Les 1e Roesz&S. have made the ascent of Namf Ra&zc. and of all the stupid. weari- sSzaes dSsSressSng, useless, desolate per 0<=z2ces-No.T, Twill not do it againl Les he EoAeEss EzRSf ceme down sometime. rM wzH
 So waited I TwaIked to the source of the AKxS rlyer, and, generally speaking, ~-bc14wea r0and." And at night Cha u<Swm1x w@s all SStlr and afiame with the @@wS 0f an accident that had happened ca Ma@t Bsznc- ThUee had gone up and i've Ezs3ex> two of the tourists and one eF the guides had fallen down a precipice and beez killed The tourists were two SFa@zxCas CT Mexicans and one English wEA Ny first thought was, '.Pray God thxA 2fteE al, Leslie Roberts may prove uss to be CAax1se Wests'
 I@s2 again came news more mature zz1.cezrzte-- One Spaniard was certainly &11bD1 x21 one guide The second Span mr4 tkIr MexScanl was injured The oth- SE g1s2e sz1 FAe Engiishman were safe. TMsn- \ thought, s'pray Heaven that Lessase kOeeESs may prove tO be Charlie
 Fa3me4 party who were going up to keAp h reccvgxSEg the bodies. Much as mssw dEs2lke Alpine climbing. am not s2 @exPe<s cTagSlan-and in any ease ny UI23 woal not allow me to remain esssw- Bzt before we reached the spot the two bodies hal been raised from their hTExre bv some of those who had gone tAIkAEr Sxcz CAaMOunix on the first news ek the e@1xzlty. And Tn the chill down, ma gazssly caeft of the awful Alps, saw aEg9r@ bend2g over a corpse-and the kEwH@ w&S thai of my old friend Charlie Wexk
 ~wH yoz descend. Nr Robertss" said a gz@1e m a tnae of commiseration.
 ~~fk EzzkkExS little where I go now, h ChAE&e anSwered ssT have lost my best fragm3 oa eaKth=
 -No. 10. Garlic West" I exclaimed tE1 Kn@1SSh-hSs words were in French).
 1oa kzre deareR friends, and I have caze te hx1ng yOa tO them"
 Kne Fes& of my story IS not long to tell Iheoashk Charlie West Calias Leslie Rob -sxts1 te L&1sz1neL On our way thithel he teaA me the history of the past two ye&r& Whea he left Europe he went tS Mexlco and txsed in many ways to mak, afnEtzne there. having still some fain RezAzklc hope of one day returning t eAzE2 Mss Kendall He failed in all. ant took to teaeAlng French, German, an, EngllsA One family of Spanish Mexican emPs1yed him, appreciated him, and wa EnRe tAan merely kind to him. Ther were two sons in this family, and with tn eh1ero these he formed a warm and sincer fEsezdzhlp. The twO sons were sent t trzvel to EaTope. and Charlle received hheral linvitation to go with them as tutor interpreter. and companion. Poor fel Huwf kSx f&max.sn@ v~rr,ld rnk sy, arxv ,ao