San Saba County news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1874-19??, 1892-06-03
SAVED BY HORNS.
i Channels Hrnter's Extraordinary
venture Mt the Great Zmutt Glaele,

i Channels Hrnter's Extraordinary
venture Mt the Great Zmutt Glaeler|
They tell wonderful tales of
ehamois and the chamois hunter
Switzerland. as every one who
travelled among Alpine peaks
glaciers knows said one who
been in Switzerland frequently t
New York Sun reporter "but Anto
Gimlich. a middle-aged hunter
though still agile and elastic. in mi
as well as body, I imagine. had in
repertoire OF "reminiscences of II
shy and surefooted antelope of I
Alps mora to excite the interest a
strain the credulty OF the listen
than any other Swiss mountaineer
ever heard give himself liberty on
sub. eel Anto ne was q dweller
the Bernese Oberland. but to he
him tell it, he had hunted in and W
at home in every part of the Alp
His favOrite narrative for it wd
the first one he always told when /
had listener. was OF thrilling ad
venture he had once at the head
the great Zmutt Glacier lie ha
been following q channels for two day
among the perilOus rocks and ic,
slopes in that locality. and at last dis
covered it on the apex of high rocI
that rose fifty feet above him. I'D
stood at the top OF a steep slope Of
glacial debris where the footing waI
insecure which terminated on thd
brink OF a chasm hundreds OF feed
deep. The instant he saw the cha
mois he fred. The animal tumbled
from the rock and fell at his feet ID
was not dead. and it struggled to
rise. Antoine seized il by both hind
legs ans in doing so lost his footing.
He fell forward. still holding the
chamois by the legs. and instantly
both hunter and quarry were sliding
down the slope toward the awful
chasm.
Antoine made desperate efforts to
thrust his feet IN some craca o. Gre
vice in the debris to save himself from
the awful fate that yawned below him.
and even the poor ehamois paved des-
perately with its forefeet to gain "a
foothold and stay the journey TO death.
The efforts were vain. Antoine re-
tanned his hold on the chamois's legs
in the desperate hope that impels the
drowning to grasp at straws As they
neared the brink OF the chasm the
chamois in its struggle had turned
upon its back. Antoine suddenly felt
the solid ground fall away beneath
him and he knew he had passed over
the precipiee's edge But instead of
tumbling on down into the abyss. he
found himself suspended from the
cliff hanging to the chamois's legs.
Antoine glanced upward. The curved
horns Of the chamoi5 had plunged full
length into deep crevice near tho
precipice's edge as hunter and ante
lope shot over it The strong horns
withstood the shock OF the sudden
cessation of motion, and there with
nothing but hundreds OF feet OF cold
and unresisting space between him
and the rocks below, Antoine hung.
Antoine says that he at once uttered
a fervent prayer for being thus unex-
pectedly saved from the awful plunge
but when he had time to collect him
self he was forced to change his mind
He had nothing to be thankful for he
thought for at the best he could not
see how the situation was anything
more than 4 reprieve 1t was impos-
sible for him to draw himself back to
the slope by means OF the channels;
the chances of his being discovered
and rescued were as one in a thousand,
and even with that chance in his IA
voE discovery must como quickly. for
that his strength could long sustain
him suspended by the antclope's legs
in mid-air was not within human Dos
sibility. But Antoine did not know
that on the trail OF the chamois were
other hunters 1t seemed an hour.
Antoine says that he hung over that
waiting abyss. suffering untold torture
in mind and body. and he felt that his
strength could last but a fe y minutes
more when he heard a shout aud
then another. He tried to answer the
shouts but only hoarse gasps came
from his throat An age seemed to
pass. Then he heard the sound OF
men making their way down the
slope. The sounds came nearer; then
voices. Presently the forms of two
hunters filed the space within the
range OF his vision. on the edge OF the
precipice above him Words Of cheer
came from them. Antoine grasped
the antelopes legs firmly with all his
strength. He felt himself
gradually rising toward the slope He
closed his eyes; his heart stood still;
he scarcely breathed. By and by
strong hands seized him. He knew
no more until no found consciousness
in a place Of safety. His rescuers
were with him. and OF course no Ian
guage could tell them what was in his
heart
Everybody knows Antoine in the
Bernese Oberland. never found any
one who knew the two hunters who
rescued him that day at the head Of
the great Zmutt Glacier"