The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1888-02-25


called 10 his companion. A cloud, moving,
dense. vet light as foam, beat upon them,
surrounded th ,m noiselessly, but little by
little burving them under white and heavy
mattress of snow. This lasted four days
md nights. They must hasten to dig out
fine doors md windows, pathway and steps
To 90 out upon that icy powder, which twelve
hours of fr,rang would render harder than
the granite of the moraines. The snow be-
gan again aud continued they were prison.
ers and left the shelter of their dwellings no
more, dividing the duties between them ana
| fulfilling them scrupuIously. Ulrich washed
and cleaned the vessels and cut the wood,
while Gas,ard tended the fire, watched the
soup and did the cooking, their monotonous
work interspcrsed with games OF cards.
Both of them calm and placid men, resigned
! to this winte ing in the SUBMITS, they never
uuarrcled Occasionally, when the weather
| permitted, old Gaspard would take MS gun
| and hunt the channels, feast day at the Inn
of Schwarcnbach resulting. One morning
he started AS usual, the thermometer ranged
| IA d.gs. below zero The sun had not yet
risen. for the hunter hoped to surprise the
animals AS they fed on the borders OF the
| Wildstrubel. Ulrich, left alone, remained
in bed till 10 O'Clock, a propensity he dared
not indulge in in the presence OF the old
guide. He breakfasted with Sam, who passed
his DAYS doing before the fire, then seated
himself 10 wait for Gaspard. Tired at last,
he got up and went to meet him The snow
that had fallen steadily had leveled the deep
valley, filled the crevices, etfaced the lakes
and crowned the rocks till they appeared be-
tween the towering SUBMITS like huge white
tubes, binding and dazzling,
For three weeks Ulrich had not been able
10 90 10 the end OF the valley to regard the
village. II was q good time; be would go
there now, before climbing the cliffs of the
Wildstrubcl.
II, too, was buried under the snow, and the
dwellings, IN their pale mantle, no longer dis
tnguishable Turning to the right he
gained the glacier Of the Loenmern, going
with the long stride of the practiced noun
taineer, supporting himself by his iron
pointed staff plunged into the snow, his
piercing eye catching and scrutinizing every
little black spot upon the surrounding white
ness At the spot where Gaspard usually
rested he hesitated a moment, wondering If
the hunter had taken his accustomed path;
then started again with swifter, anxious
step. The day was ending, the SUBMITS red
dening with the setting sun; cold wind
blew in short gusts over the crystal surface.
Ulrich shouted aloud, sharp, vibrating cries,
that died away in the silence, slept in the
mountains, or lost themselves in those mo-
tioness frozen waves like the cries Of the
birds over the sea Nothing answered him,
He walked rapidly on The sun had sunk
below the peaks; its reflection still crimsoned
the sky, but the valley was gray and somber.
Ulrich felt alarmed. II seemed to him as if
the silence, the solitude, the deadly winter OF
the glaciers held him, were going to stop his
blood, to stiffen his limbs and turn him to
ice. He began to run, flying toward his
dwelling Perhaps Gaspard had returned
and was waiting for him, sitting before the
fire, dead chamois ut his feet. Soon the
inn was before him, but no smoke came from
its chimneys. uIrich ran faster than ever,
opened the door and entered. Sam
rushed to meet him, but no one
se--Gaspard Hari was not there! Still
no searched and looked as If he ex-
pectod to find him hiding in a corner He
lighted the fire and prepared the soup, from
time to time going to the door and looking
out hoping always to see Gaspard coming.
Night fell, the pallid, livid light of the
mountains, that crawled along the horizon,
slow, increasing yellow, ready at breath
to drop behind the SUBMITS. Perhaps Cas-
pard had broken his leg, had fallen into
hole, had twisted his ankle, and was lying
| in the snow suffering, stifened by the cold,
and calling for help with all his strength in
the silence of those solitudes. But wheres
Ten or twenty men, working in all direc-
cions, would be required to find man lost in
| that immensity. Nevertheless, Ulrich deter
mined to start alone with Sam, il Gaspard
had not returned by midnight. He made
| his preparations--two days food in sack,
his steel climbing hook, his staff, a stout rope
and his Ratchet and then he waited.
The fire roared in the chimney, the dog
snored in the light of the flames, the clock
beat like tho heart, in even, regular strokes,
in its case OF wood He waited--his eur
ouickened to the slightest sound-the lightest
brush of the wind across the roof and walls.
Midnight struck--Gaspard had not come!
| He got up, covered the fire with ashes and
| wood called Sam and started for the Wild
| strubel For three hours he assembled, hold
| ing by his climbing hook, cutting steps in
the ice, brcathless, painting, but always
higher and higher, followed by the faithful
Sam. 1t was six hours before he reached the
point that tho old hunter frequented for
chamois.
Day was breaking, a strange light, spring
ing no one knew whence, through the brist-
ling peaks, spreading, growing, deepening to
the tint of rosy flesh. The red sun was up
behind tho sulcn giants Of the Bernoises
Alps Ulrich continued, going like hunter,
half bent, spying for traces, calling con
stantly to the dog: Hunt, my fine fellow,
hunt" in vain He descended again, search
ing tho CULTS with his eye, listening with his
ear to the ground shouting, hallooing and
sending his voice echoing from point to
point Nothing answered him. Weak and
despairing, toward II o'clock he seated him
self ate his breakfast and fed Sam, then
commenced again. Evening came-too far
In the mountains to return to the inn, toe
fatigued to drag himself longer, Ulrich hol
lowed hole In the snow, crept into it, fol
lowed by Sam, and side by side under the
rug he had brought with him, man and
beast sought to warm themselves one against
tho other; but chilled to the marrow Of theii
bones wore tho night away.
Unable to sleep, at daybreak he rose again
1 L. L.. II. IL