Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1877-11-14

/ A We'll known voice, in broken &C
cents, called for Henri. II was the
father seeking the son. 4 shudder
of horror passed through the frame Of
the girl.
/ Yet all was sadly true-Henri had not
returned home. A search must be made.
The neighhors gathered in haste TO the
summons, With the earliest dawn they
set out upon their melancholy GRAND.
Alas this had not been the first time
they had searched for lost ones in their
land of dangers.
Marie led them to the parting-place.
She marked the tracks the Young man
had taken. With Indian sagacity his
| FOOTBALLS were followed till they led to
the edge of the glacier Here greater
| skill was requisite to mark the course.
1t was summer, ard the snow had dis
appeared from the lower part of the
glacier The hard ice leaves no tracks;
but as, at the hour of parting, some
little softness remained on the surface
from the days sun, Henri had left faint
tracings on the glacier, which the subse-
Quent nights chill had retained The
peasants noted these with jealous, pain
tul care. Here the alpen-stock had left
the impression of its iron point. Sud
denly the foremost of the group uttered
a cry Of dismay All crowded near.
He said nothing, but pointed with his
i finger.
Poor Marie sickcned at the sight, and
fell insensible. There was the trailing
mark of the slipped alpen-stock and
beside 1t was the sliding track of the
young mans foot. Both terminated at
the edge Of II c,erusse
They strained their eyes downward.
IN vain attempts to penetrate that
gloomy passage. They shouted, but
caught no voice in return. He had fall
Ell and the depth was terrible.
The rope the rope y was now the
cry. Several volunteered that perlous
descent i'll search of their friend But
here the horror came upon them with
all its fell, bunumbing power. The aper-
ture had so narrowed since the lost one
had sunk, that there was not space for a
human body.
Words cannot picture the consterna-
ton of the party. One sought comfort
in the thought that the poor fellow must
have been killed by the fall. Another told
how one had been in such chamber as
tnat, from which he could not be cx-
treated; and, after he had been mourn
ed over for days as dead, he re-appear-
ed Il CHASTITY, but a living man. Henri
might still be alive. Still, the ever
slowly moving mass had pressed the
walls Of his prison so much closer
together, no prospect appeared of
rescue.
Marie revived, to be made'even more
desolate and tewor-stricken by the news
of the closing chasm.
What Il mournful group returned to
the cottage
Here the matter was fully discussed,
and plans We're successfully proposed
and rejected. Marie listened with
deepest attention, When they found
no way of relief, all turned eyes of tear
! ful sympathy to the youthful betrothed
one. But it was not time yet for her to
mourn She must think and act for her
beloved, who was not yet beyond hope
with her
Having heard the story repeated of
the man who, returning to his wife,
after having been buried i'll the ice
chamber, she REQUIRED to it, demanded
particulars, and wondered how he had
escaped. Then she found that the poor
fellow had found a passage through the
glacier, and had issued from its mouth
And Why said she, might not
Henri 50 return
She quailed again when told of the
depth of the crerasSe, and the certainty
of his limbs being broken, if his life
was not destroyed at once. How could
he escape? Love now awakened hel
imagination with another project
If he could not get out might not Others
60 into the glacier in search ? Sage
heads were shaken Mt the suggestion.
The terrors Of the glaciers were well
known to the peasants Of the Alps
Chambers were seen plainly enough.
Extended caves were believed to run
beneath the surface The very exit OF
the rivers from these icy recesses prov
ed the existence Of subterranean pas
sages.
There was another point of view.
The surface of glacier was inconstant-
a stone upon it was known to drift
down the valley, slowly but certainly.
The huge blocks of ice would rise from
the surface and then fall shivering
toward the valley The very height of
the glacier was changing ut the banks
If those outward signs of movement
existed. could they fail in affecting the
parts below? If the glacier glided
downward from the lofty peaks to the
plains, though but at the rate Of few
inches a day, would the cayerls retain
their form? As the prisons cracked
and parted above, might not the icy
walls below, crumble and fall?