The Opelousas courier., 1888-02-11

a crevasse in the great glacier OF the her
de Grace. He was alone at the time, but
they found his broken alpenstock at the
lip of the creyasse, and down in the
depths they heard the footing of his
horn. It took 800 feet of rope to bring
him up, and ever since then he was a
guide much sought for by those who had
any choice in the selection of guides,
and, besides this, the recital of his thrill
ing story had filled his purse on many an
occasion.
So Hertzoff took the Doctor and my
self across the glacier that day. We left
the beaten path somewhat so that we
might see the spot where he fell in and
hear the story just where it happened.
The crevasse was a.Mljde one but it had
been narrower 90 Tile time the guide
slipped over. What made matters worse
was that at the time the guide was alone.
He had taken a party across the glacier
and was returning by a short Quito Mon
tanvert. He and his brother were to take
a party up the glacier i'll the afternoon
and his brother, who was waiting for him
at Montanvert, b anne alarmed at his
absence. With another guide he started
to meet him, and knowing the short cut,
that the guides generally took when
alone, they followed it. Coming to a
valley in the ice at the bottom of which
was the narrow crevasse, they saw
on the other side q broken alpenstock
stuck fast in an ice ~crevice that told the
whole story. Hertzoff had come down
the incline as usual with lis alpenstock
to keep the decent from being too swift.
The alpenstock caught in the erevice and
snapped off. Heftzoff fell and slid help
lessly over the lip of the creyasse. He
went down feet first. He tried to stop
himself by bracing his feet against the
opposite side of the crevasse, but he slid
dawn the blue, clear ice with appalling
swiftness. About one hundred feetdown
the crevasse turned, and from thence to
the bottom he slid down on his back, and
in an instant found himself in two feet
of ice water that rushed to help form the
River Arge that flows through Chamonix.
When his brother and the other guide
saw how matters stood and heard the
faint foot Of the Alpine horn in the ice
depths, the brother shouted down to en-
courage him to hold out, while the other
ran back to the big hotel for ropes and
help. All the visitors and many of the
guides came back with him, and in a
Snort time they had the half frozen man
up on the surface again. 1t was a fear
fully narrow escape. Hertzof tied ropes
around us and held on while We vent
down and looked over the edge of the
crevasse. The sides were a clear lumin-
Gus blue, darkening as they went down.
We could hear the rush of the water be-
low. The Doctor dropped a stone into
the chasm and that, moge than anything
else, made lis realize its depth. The
stone dropped to the turn in the revasse
and then we heard it ringing against the
sides as it went down and down, seem
ingly to the center Of the earth.
As we returned the Doctor. and /
walked together beh nd the guide, who
was some distance ahead. We were both
very much impressed by the story told
on the very spot where it had happened.
That ought to be a great lesson for
you" began the Doctor.
s'Why for me.n
"Well, in the. telling of a stfty. Now,
if you were writing that ADVENTURE the
chances are that you would sHbil it by
piling up the agony. He tolll it in his
simple, direct way, that to my hind was
infinitely more thrilling than al the fine
writing in the world. What Impressed
me about his narrative was the simplicity
of diction and the evident truti0ilness,
and, besides that, there was an absence
of brag that strikes me as admirable
ssStill you must admit that the guide
is a man of rather coarse feelings; prob
ably the only sensation he felt was an
animal desire for safety. He did not
describe his feelings because he had
none. Take a more refined and educated
3erson in the same situation, and his
asations during that slow slide to the
L1asSdge of the cre7asse would be something
10 aiinfully intense-scmething that this
aaallan could neither appreciate nor under
ffE md
MI don't admit that at all. This mans
moeesty prevents him from telling us
/ iustS What he felt. Human nature is hui
mani Rture all the world over. Now to
provo his, when we retuTnI will try and
get TIL man into a m~esineric trance. I
think.Ae would be q good subject, and
il / sacEseed, then we will have his story
with ali his sensations at the time of fall
ing. / wish that if he proves a good
/ sub Get you would take your pencil and
get his words as nearly verbatim as you
d h. By the wav. do YOU write short
hand2n
ooh VOC Inf tha tro,,hle i I can't
read Il nor ean anp hadg else after tba
na.as 40 sy,;sten Tbae Iae alysaus bee,
~ 8 ,yhsct With sbarthand >
ssWaii ~ ia hast ~, aaa !.
SasI ~ 49,.