Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1890-10-01

the other, as l have already said, slop-
ed upward at a considerable angle,
but it was SO slippery that ] could
find no foothold upon it.
/ had with me nothing but a strong
clasp-knife. but with this poor tool l
began desperately hacking nitches for
my hands and feet in the ice. 1t was
slow and painful work. When at the
end of four or five hours found that
/ had not progressed more than ten
yards upward, my heart sickened, !
relaxed my hold, and slid, numbed
and despairing, to the bottom again.
BY this time the night had come upon
the world above and in the chasm it
was perfectly black. ! wrapped my
coat about me and lay down in the
crevasse, perfectly careless as to the
end of it all. Some time towards
morning, worn out with fatigue and
excitement, fell asleep.
1t must have been late in the day
when | awoke. l started to my feet
and looked around me. A significant
change had taken place in the condi-
ton of the crevasse. When l had
fallen into it the chasm had been fully
twenty feet in width. Itwas now less
than six. The cleft of the sky was
reduced to a mere white line araboye.
The walls were approaching each other
the crevasse was closing again. In
the course of a few hours l should be
crushed to pieces between the meeting
masses of ice.
The thought had now no terror for
me. Mentally and physically / was be-
numbed and callous. 1 sat down up
on the bottom of the crevasse, stolidly
watching slow approach of the opposite
wall, until it began to press against my
feet, then l arose to standing posture
and continued to eye it vacantly as be-
fore.
Another hour went by; it might
have been moment or an age, so far
as my dulled comprehension was con-
cerned. The wall had now approached
so closely that l could touch the op.
posite one with my outstretched hands.
At this juncture a small object struck
me sharply upon the head. Isupposed
it to be a fragment of ice detached
from the ice-walls above, and paid no
attention to it. But the blow was re-
peated more violently, and / looked
up carelessly to see whence it came.
1t was with sense of absolute pain,
so great was the revulsion from de-
spair to hope, that l saw the end of a
knotted rope dangling before me-
Some one had discovered my situation,
who it was or how l did not stop to
think, and come to my rescue.
l seized the rope and hurriedly knot
ted it under my arms, and uttering a
shout to those above, was slowly and
painfully drawn up through the fast
narrowing cleft. A dozen strong arms
lifted me out into the sunlight. Eager
faces, among which / reconized those
of Franz and the old guide, bent over
me then / knew no more.
My fainting fit lasted only few
moments, but as / opened my eyes and
sat up, the crevasse out of which | had
been drawn closed together with ter
rife crash.
l learned that I had been engulfed
alone and that Franz had been left
safe upon detached block of ice. At
early dawn, finding the crevasse clos
ing around and the glacier becoming
passable again, he had fastened back
to the village and procured ropes and
assistance, with the hope that l might
still be alive at the bottom of the Gre
vase. They had trailed the rope
along the crevasse, knowing that if l
was still alize it would attract my
attention. Fortunately for me, the
device succeeded and / was rescued
at the very last moment.
If, as they say, we measure time
only by our emotions, l should be at
loss to calculate the number of GEN.
turtles l passed through during that
terrible night in the crevasse.-C. L..
Hildreth i'm N Y World.