The weekly messenger., 1889-06-15

! shots must nave driven them quite out OF
reach. After minutes anxious listen
inc we fanced we heard shouts. and
fearing We knew not what, called loudly
I fIanz's name.
/ We then heard and this tine quite
dis,nctly-the voice of Gotting saying
"come down come down, It's all over!
/ franz has sho. h,m.rif"'
sic2el and I were standing together
ankle deep in the snow. glanced into
/ ms face, and I think shall never for
get tue look Of misery / saw there. BE-
fore knew what he was about, he had
seized his riac. and presented the muzzle
/ to his head, and was feeling with his
! foot in a frensled manner tor the trigger.
l snatched the piece away ust IN time
! he did not try to recover it, but throw
! inc himself on the snow, burst into a
! most passionate, most eloquent torrent OF
praise of his sons many virtues. He told
me what good son ne had always been
to him, anxious to fulfil his 81 ghtest
wish.
at length succeeded in partially
soothing him, and in rousing him to ac
ton. We scrambled down as fast as we
could guided by Gotting's shouts
1t was long time before We reached
them: to lHe it seemed an age. | &C
cused myself of being the author of all
this misery, and my anxiety was height
ened by the reflection that we were in
reality poaching. and We should very
likely, in conse quence Of this misfortune
get into trouble on our return.
We found poor Franz lying shot
through the back and in great pain
among stunted "Knie-holz"-a plant
something like our whinbEsh 1t ap-
peared that he had. contrary to all lager
rules, carried his rifle capped, and that
in walking through The knie-holz, ne
had stumbled and fallen. and his rife mad
somehow or other exploded. causing a
severe wound
We stanched the blood as we'll as we
could with our nandkerchiefs, and then
held a consultation. Gotting SAID he
knew Of chalet some way off to which
he Thought we might manage 10 carry
Franz.
| lifted him up rs carefully a posi-
bic. and walked for some way over the
abominSble knle holz. which threatened
to trip one up every moment. | man
aged, thinh. t. 90 about two hundred
yards with ny burden, and then, eX-
hausted, ha.i to ley MIN down. His
fathe Jr.ed 10 carry him next, but un-
nerved and half-biinded by ms tears,
had also soon - giveit up.
JotJing was the only oHe Of the marty
who could carry Fran Tor any great
length oi time over the rough Ground we
were now compelled to traverse; he VAS
a small man, but seem to bc aii wire
and muscle.
II was. however, cvi1ent that the slow
pace We were obliged to go we should
never, even if we knew the exact direc-
ton which, by the way, none of Us did
get TO the chalet before nighifall
Some other arrangement must be made.
Gotting proposed that ne should stay
with the wounded man, while Siegel
and | should go forward and attempt to
reach the chalet. Gotting was the only
one of the party who had ever been
there, and that wa, years before. He
gave rs directions how to lind it.
We were to pass to the right or left of
certain peaks ne pointed out to us and
then he said we should see large field
OF snow. We were to cross this. and the
halet was in hollow about half mile
above and to the lett.
Well, we started-+iegel and I-leav-
ing all the provisions except few sand
wiches with Franz and Gotting. A
weary walk brought us to the peak
where, according to Gotting, we were
to see the snow field. But there was
thing of the sort there; peak rose
peak, but there was no great, level
snnw-icld stretching away al our feet,
81 4 as ne had descrb bed
}i-e looked at each other in dismay
To add to our distress, the weather,
which had hitherto been beautiful, be-
gan to get overcast. Light wreaths of
,,irt ,,-nr. cottin1. on tim hinhnat snrnrni u