Weekly Trinity journal., 1879-12-20

~ NNp y CtuNhs Ou tue uTSb klgU OF
daybreak, | woke him. and we started.
The sun was clear and bright; there was
now no fog, and the head Of the old
mountain shone white in the sunlight
All y thought l, the day is come at
last When we camo to ths glacier OF
Taconey the poor doctor turned pale at
the sight of the immense crevasses and
prscipices we had to cross upon narrow
bridges of ice that cracked beneath our
feet, and which, had they given way en-
tlrely, would have carried us with them
into untathomless abysses, where the eye
even could never reach us. He got bet
ter as we advanced, but when we had
passed the Grands Mulets, and show ed
him whore had slept the Grst night, he
trembled again. | tried to rouse him
with little brandy, but IL gust OF wind
came, blowing his hat far away into
Piedmont, and obliging us to crouch in
the snow to escape being blown away
ourselves from the slippery ledge where
we Stood while we were in continual ter-
ror lest the huge blocks of snow depatch-
ed by tho wind should fall on us and bury
us alive. Great lamps as big as chales
the furious wind tore up and hurled over
our heads. But as /. was now near the
hour when had told my Martha to look
out for us, | was anx iOus to go on, but
could only get him to follow on all iours
like goat--or rather like pig, for no
could neither spring nor climb. In this
way we proceed until wo reached the
Dome de Gouther. whence by the and of
my glass could SEQ my dear Martha in
the valley. She was not alone ; quite II
great number ofthe great villagers were
with her, and amongst them recognized
Joseph Carrier and Christopher Tourhe-
ur, two guides who had made fine sport
of my failures. They had II glass and
saw US, and my dear Martha waved her
pink neckerchot that | bought at Thun,
and gave hor on her birthday.
"Sti,l our worl; was not done; and
when | begged the doctor to n ovo on, he
refused to walk Il foot further. did all
| could to persuade him, but to no pur.
pose he was obstinate. SO | was com.
peled to leave him behind me, for moth
ing, no, net even the promise Of having
Martha's hand IL | returned at once,
could turn mo from my purpose. gave
him my bottle, and entreated him to keep
in constant motion until returned, tell.
ing him that Death stood at his elbows,
and would lay his hands on him if he
closed his eyes.
" Well, to proceed l left tho doctor
c'apping his hands together as if no WAS
applauding vaudeville, though truly
his fnce looked rather AS If he was the
melancholy hero OF tragedy and
advanced, and soon lost sight of him.
" The road was not SO difficult ms
expected, nor SO poriOus. My greatest
trouble was to breathe freely. AT eve
ry step this difficulty increased. | felt
Us il II groat weight were upon my chest.
and preventing my lungs expanding
Every minute | had to stop and strug
gle for breath. 1t was real hard work
that. After n time my instinct prompt.
ed me to cover my mouth, so | folded
my handkerchief like cravat and tied
il about my mouth. This relieved mo
somewhat. 1t is strange, that, bat true.
The cold too, increased greatly, and as
| only advanced about quarter of II
mile in an hour, | suffered very much
II almost made mo insenslbie, the cold.
Nevertheless, ! bent my head TO the
wind and went on. Ii was not Martha
| thought Of now, but of conquering this
@hlto- headed old giant did not lot
Martha know this, though And so
went on and OH with my head down,
until 10 there WaS nothing before me :
" cast my eyes around, scarcely dar.
ing to believe had reached the sum-
init, lest | should be disappointed by
tlnding another eminence higher. But
il was not so ] stood on the top OF
Mont Blanc. There WIS no higher point.
| stood on the highest point OF the
earth. (Jacques Balmat would never
believe there was higher mountain
than Mont Blanc.) The great feat was
achieved by me alone. /, jacques Bal.
mat, stood where neither man nor ongIe
nor chamois had ever set loot. Alone
and by myself had done It. l was the
statue crowning that magnificent ped
eslal. | was king Of the world at thai
moment, and whom | turEed TO the val.
ley | saw my subjects. Every man,
woman and child stood outside my vii.
lags, gazing up and waving their hand
kerchief; und although could not hear
their shouts my heart felt them, and !
forgot all | had suffered. At that mo-
ment l could see What no one elfc
could-I saw the dark, dark blue heaven.
However, when my first moments
OF triumph were over, began TO think
Of my poor friend the doctor, and de-
scended rs fust as possible, shouting as
| approached the spot where | had loft
him. There was no human answer all
| could hear was the cracking Of the
glaciers, and the laundering of avalan-
cbes. But presently / caught sight OF
my companion rolled into a ball like a
cat, and quite motionless. | slapped his
back, and il was great relief TO me
when he lifted his head, for | had mis-.
giving that the cold had seized him and
frozen his blood. 1 have done it. said
! IL have stood on the very top of
Mont Blanc =
"'Wbefe can lie down and sleep7'
he asked, by way of answer.
"'But,' said |, you came 10 70 with
mo To the summit of old Whita.h .ha.d