Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-11-27
all sides and no prospect of any improve
ment. Such was our position August Ii,

| having W get q suduSc SuiuS ~ ttohL
place had kept me away but with the old
love of the mountains still strong within
me, | had gravitated once more TO my old
campaigning ground. l had engaged no
regular guide for the season, for my days
| for vigorous climbing were over, and now
felt that / must relegate myself to only
passes, with perhaps an occasional peak.
l was doing that delightful series of easy
expeditions known as the " Tour OF Monte
Rosa" l had crossed the Weissthor with
| some friends to Macugnaga, and from there
alone with one guide mot quite wise pro-
ceeding, perhaps) / had made my way over
the Cole dele Loccie to the little mountain
inn in the Cole d'Olen. with the intention
of returning again 10 Zermatt by the Lys-
joch. / had thought it possible that /
| might be able to pick up man at the
Collie d'Olen to make third on the rope,
but on arriving there, to my disgust, !
| found that no one was available.
scarcely knew what TO do for the best.
To attempt 10 cross The Lysjoch alone with
one man was Il act of folly had not the
least intention of committing. OF other
alternatives one was TO send down the
guide l had with me to the valley to
bring up companion (which meant loss
of time and expense), or else TO wait where
| was on the chance of some other party
bound for Zermatt turning up, to whom l
might ask leave to attach myself.
l was sitting summing myself in front of
the inn and thinking over matters, when a
CHEEKY voice hailed me- and who should
| appear toiling up the stony path leading
from the valley but my old friend Burns.
! whom l had not the smallest idea that |
| should meet on this side of the Alps.
| Burns was now a leading light Of the
J legal profession; he was even spoken of
| INV ref arin ft1+1t Ir1Gr br1t
thing more uniudicial than his manner in
the Alps it was impossible to imagine, and
to me he was ever the same admirable COM
panion and friend that he had ever been.
! He had left party of friends at the Ital
| ian lakes, and had come to do walk as
he termed it, in the mountains, and ne had
brought with him temporarily a young
Italian guide named Antoine, and porter,
and he, too, | found to my great satisfac-
ton, was bound for Zermatt by way of the
Lysjoch.
| We decided, as a matter of course, to join
| forces. Burns porter was paid of and sent
home; Antoine and my guide Josef were
| retained, and the following morning we
had started on our expedition.
| The weather had become doubtful soon
after we had left the inn; but we kept on
Notwithstanding until well on the glacier,
and then, when too late, we had begun to
wish that we had had the moral courage TO
turn back before. For the guides had lost
! themselves. They were neither of them
| first rate, and now that difficulties began to
| thicken they proceeded to lose their heads.
In fact, to such pass did matters come
that Burns and myself had to assume all
| responsibility
The storm was raging furiously now, not
a landmark was visible, and the binding
4 cd M cd 10
troubles we found ourselves without COM
pass, the only member of the party pos
! Sessed of one being Burns, and this he had
broken only the day before We could not
| thus tell even the direction in which we
/ ought to be going
l have heard of persons lost in the desert
wandering for miles in a circle, SO that they
came back at last to the very point from
which they started.
| To those who have not experienced it it
is impossible to convey the feeling of utter
| hOpelessness in such case. 1t was fated
we should feel it on that day for after
many an hours weary trudge knee-deep in
the soft snow we found that our labors had
been in vain, and we only returned again
| to the tracks we had made before. Still,
aimlesSly as we might walk, it was neceS-
sary to keep moving for to stand still, and
| for any length of time meant TO perish in
that awful cold.
We were white from head to foot with
the snow which had frozen upon US, and,
had the occasion been less serious, we could
have laughed at the strange appearance we
presented. Burns had assumed the lead
1t had been decided that he shonld go first
| on the rope and myself last, Antoine and
! josef between us; but, as for knowing
where We were it did not matter much
| who acted as leader.
On we went, and still on, till the monot-
ony became well nigh uncomfortable. No
change, always the same white waste about
u.s. snow here, there, everywhere, and fall
| ing all around more heavily than ever.
! WHIST was to become CT US if 1t continued
We could not go on walking indefinitely.
| Hour after hour went YEARLY by.
The guides began to lose heart, and cried
! to each other about their wives and chill
| dren. l, too, began 10 feel not quite myself.
| But Burns, firmly as ever, kept plodding
! forward forward, forward. ] caught my
self thinking (as they say drowning men
will do OF incidents in my past life, of
things which / had failed to do, of things
which l had done but which it would have
been better had ! left undone; and then |
thought of host of minor matters which
at such a time seemed positively trivial.
Then my thoughts ran on other Alpine ex-
/
had made five years ago.
Strangei The scene Of it was close be-
side rs now for, though shut out from
sight by impenetrable mist, we knew that
| the mighty form of the Lyskamm was tow
ering somewhere above us lost to sight
among the clouds Even the day-August
13th-was The same. 1t seemed as if by
strange irony of fate that scene of our escape
might witness the closing scene in the Lives
| OF all of US
Then Franz's word came back to me, and
l caught myself saying half aloud Franz,
! Franz Oh, for one hour OF your guild
ance, and all would be well Oh, that you
could come back to earth to redeem your
! promise!" And as l yet spoke there was
waited toward us across the glacier a voice,
clear and distinct even amid the whirl and
uproar of the storm, a voice that said,
" Herr, GOMEZ
We had altered our course. Almost in
sensibly felt it, but l was equally certain
that it was so. | looked ahead Burns was
| still leading, but no! somehow the order
had been changed. l thought that l did
not see Alright for l could not remember
any alteration being made in our positions
on the rope, and yet it was quite certain
! that it was not Burns who now went first.
| / began TO count. There was Josef, there
| Antoine, there Burns, and there-but no, it
could not be-there was yet another! l re-
fused to believe it. Twice again counted,
twice with the same result. And then
came over me feeling Of dread, for | felt
/ that he who was leading US was not of this
life
looked and the form seemed familiar
tall and broad shouldered, snd with de-
cision in its movements that ! had never
seen but in one guide. And yet firmly
! though il trod the figure seemed to glide
over the snow rather than walk. Our pace
increased. We seemed almost TO be flying
across the glacier. Soon we began to mount,
the slope grew sleeper, then sleeper still.
| We crossed what was clearly a ridge and
then began to descend. Onward over the
snow we went, till suddenly the clouds
lifted, and there beneath us lay the familiar
form of the great Corner Glacier, all rosy
with the light of a fiery sunset. We were