The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1884-01-17

0r Of "R0nablre .ib0M Eur0pe."
| passages and torture chambers are
| found in abundance, and as we crawl
along their dripping walls we can al
most hear the dying groans to which
| they have SO often resOunded. There is
legend which says this castle is haunt
ed by the spirits of those who pershed
within its walls, and that when visited
on dark night a cry Of anguish will be
| drawn from the spirits thus disturbed.
| There is a room here called the ''Cham-
her Of Torture" where the rack and
thumb-screW did
THEIR AWFUL WORK,
and when the wind ut night finds its
way through the chinks in the stones
which serve the place Of windows, it
raises the ghostly cries afresh, and SO
the martyred sufferers Of the past cry on
and on forever and forever for ven
geance. From this point we soon reach
the very heart OF the Alpine region, and
are surrounded with the grandest scenery
on every side. Grindelwald is little
village 1000 feet above the level of the
sea, whose principal attractions are two
| enormous glaciers descending from the
mountain side above. These glaciers
are among the most stupendous phe-
nomena OF nature, and may we'll be call
ed frozen seas Extending for many
miles in length, and for aught we know
to the contrary thousands of feet in
depth, they are continually cropping their
way down the mountain side into the
valleys below. Their progress is very
SLOW. moving about two feet each day,
and grinding into the finest flour every
thing that lies in their path. In many
places on the top are great seams or
crcvasses where the glacier has ap-
palently cracked; and woe be to the
poor Traveller who is SO unfortunate as to
slip down into one of those death traps;
for with the velocity of cannon ball he
would slide tor thousands Of feet down,
down into IFS icy grave beneath. Daring
tourists are sometimes let
DOWN INTO ONE OF THESE SEAMS
with a rope around their body held by
friends above: but after sliding down a
few hundredt feet are usually glad enough
to give the signal Of return. The guide,
nature, had taken With him long cord,
ana on reaching one of these places he
suggested that | take trip Of observat-
ION down into the bowels of the glacier.
SuFfvolug hlnl u ~ ,.,~..o $50.
Christian, cheeltully c0nsented; first
eXacting a promise that be would pull
me back to the surface whenever | gave
the word. one end of the rope was tied
secnrely around my body, and after say
ing Il short prayer and leaving Il few
directions for my will, began my down
ward course The seam down which |
was travelling was only about two feet IN
width, and the sides were as smooth as
glass. 50 that to gain a toothold was
utterly impossible. My safety depended
entirely upon lhe strength and fidelity OF
the man at the other end Of the rope,
and realized only too well that one
false move Oh his part would instantly
send me into Il frozen eternity. After
descending about 100 feet, suddenly
brought up on a solid wall of ice, and
found that the creVasses had slunted OFT
on an angle Of iortytive degrees. The
| light streaming down from above and
| reflected on the CLASSY ice gave blue
ish tint to everything around, while
| THE YAWNING ABYSS
rolling away at my feet was enough to
send terror into heart of stone. Con-
cluding that | had got about enough Of
| that investigation for one day, and feel
| ing my hair gradually beginning to rise,
/ | gave my guide the signal to land his
fish. \ as for human hopes.
''The best laid schemes O. mice ana men
Gang aft agley,
! And leave u> naught but grief and pain,
For promised JOY.
| The man yelled from above and cheer
| fully informed me that his back had
| given out and consequently it would be
! impossible 10r him to raise me to the
snrlacc; not only that, bul the sharp
corner Of the ice had cut the rope 50
| that it would 10 longer bear the STRAIN .
asked him if he intended to leave me
there to die like heathen In reply
! he assured lie that it would be glorious
| DEATH and that halo OF romance would
| forever surround my name-that it would
he his pleasant duty to see that my many
virtues We're duly inscribed on MY tomb
stone, and marble monument erected
to my memory. | told him that my
name would already go laundering down
the ages for romantic exploits, so there
would he no necessity OF making this
sacIifice that if he would devise the
means by which | could leave my frozen
grave, | would immortaliZe him in a
poem suitable for tile occasion, or dedi-
cate church to
HIS FRAGRANT NAME.
l., hot i'm
possible for him to render me any aid
that my future reputation was secure ;
the place where | last bid adieu to the
troublesome scenes of earth would be-
come a shrine, a Mecca as it were, for
newspaper men to come and gaze upon
the place where one of their number
tackled subject that he couldn't get
away with | protested that such dis
tinguished honors were too overpoWering
for my sense of humility; that my tastes
were simple: a humble cottage by the
murmuring sea, with ivy and hOneysuck
le clambeling over the windows, and a
charming wife to occasionally run he1
fingers through my hair and smooth my
troubled brow, was to me the highest
aim of earthly desire, and more in ac-
cord with my tastes than this icy mau-
soleum. and the alteration Of millions
Finding this touching appeal did not
move his stony heart, shouted in stem
torian tones that would haunt him till
his dying breath that my spirit would
find its way through the chinks around
his door. and howl dismal groans into his
ears until remorse would drive him into
an early grave This last threat brought
him to a sense of his peril for he i'm
mediately began tugging at the rope and
moment later was safely landed or
the ice above. With blood in my eye
and vengeance in my heart was about
to grind him into powder, but relented
when | thought Of the loss which the
death of such
A PRACTICAL JOKER
would be. We are now bosom friends
and intend to write his biography a:
soon as time will allow me to gather the
=