Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1894-07-07
A CLOSE CALL

"fhs is the place to make one feel
small. and no mistake" said one of
my comrades, emphatically. I'VE look
no bigger, the whole eleven of us, than
flieS upon the side of house,
And we'll might he say So. We were
making the ascent of Mont Blanc. and,
although we had been tr;imping ever
since sunrise, We We're no higher rian
the skirts of the great mountain even
now.
For hours we had been to;ling over
the seemingly endless eXpanse of the
mighty glacier DIES Bossons-strugylin
through knee-deep masses OF soft
SNOW, leapinS recklessly across yawn-
ing olefts. scrambling up razor edged
ridges. that cracked and splintcrcd
beneath our hasty steps, or seal NJ
sheer walls of ice, in which Il fight
OF steps grew up beneath the blows
of our guides ice-axe
Ever and anon one of our party
would disappear from sight. having
plunged into soft Snow-drift or slip
ped bodily down a crevasSe. But as
We We're all roped together and march
ed i'll single file, it did not take long
to bring the missing man to the sur
face. Onward, ever onward, past
p.llarcd arcadeS of silver and dim
depths of clouded steel. and dark blue
pools of water sleeping in floating
shadow, and bewildering mazeS Of
bright points, rising lance beyond
lance.
At length. just as the sun was be-
ginning to sink. the vast black pyra-
mid of the Grands Mulet Rock was
seen looming dark against the snowy
WhitoneSS of the higher slopes. with
its tiny plank hut perched in "A hollow
at the top of it, like taper stuck in
il candlrStick.
This is our camping place for the
night. before undertaking the most
Il fiicult part of the ascent. and the
weaker members of our party brighten
up at the sight of it. But they are
not to get there SO easily. The storm
clouds that have been rolling up
around us for the past hour suddenly
burst in Il perfect torrent of rain. and
now the strain of the work makes it.
self felt in earnest. We have indeed
Il rough time ere We reach the chelter-
ing hut.
But. once there, all is soon put to
rights. A CHEEKY fire is lighted our
wet clothes are hung up to dry. and Il
full measure of hot coffee-made IN Il
charcoal bucket with three shovelfuls
of snow. ami stirred up with pick
aXe-sets us all i'm a glow again.
The accommodation is certainly Of
the simplest. for the entire furniture
consists of table. a bench. a stove,
and the charcoal bucket above men
TONED. while the crazy planking of
the walls lets in the keen, frosty air
through countless chinks. But
one cannot be very particular at ten
thousand feet above the sea level. and
II any case, we have only a few hours
to spend in this hermitage. the final
start being usually made little after
midnight.
TO sleep. however. was no easy mat
ter. even after such a tramp: for all
the planks of the floor were loose. and
whenever any one stepped upon them
they went up and down. like the keys
of piano. making us feel as if in Il
state of chronic earthquake.
Gett ny tired of this. | went outside
end lay down behind a rock, wrapped
in my plaid. to look down at a thun-
drrStorm that was raging three thou
sand feet below me-the lightning zig
tagging among the hills. and the rain
sweeping like torrent along the
valley. while all around me was per-
feet stiffness and cloudless moonliS CHIT
| was doing off to sleep when
saw the head guide. old Gaspard
S.mond. standing beside me with a
very serious look ON his weather-beat-
en- face.
Monsieur" he said. gravely. 81 fear
that English student will get us into
trouble if we don't mind. He's not
strong enough for work like this. and
if he delays us on the upper ridges,
where there's always risk of an ava
lanthe. why, then"
A significant sweep of his hand COM
plcted the sentence.
DO avalanches fall so late in the
season as this. then? l Thought they
came in the spring or early summer"
| exclaimed, somewhat startled.
$50 they do, but when there's so
much snow as there is here, one can
never be safe; they often come when
You least expect them. Now if we
should have to run for our lives. it
wGuld not do to have helpless ma n
among us. SO think we had better
leave THE student here, and pick him
up on our way back"
quite agreed with him; but the
student pleaded so hard to be allowed
to 20 with us to the summit, tina t
Simond yielded against his better
Judgment.
Half an hour after midnight amid
silence in which even the whispered
words of command sound unnaturally
loud. we start once more up slope
after slope of smooth, untrodden snow.
bathed i'm the full splendOr of the
moonlight.
All around is dazzling white, all
above is deep, rich blue. and round
and up we go, passing under threa ten
ing ice-peaks, skirting dark crevasSes.
and seeming, with our spiked slaves
working oarlike along the snow, and
our line of march bonding and wind
ing with the ropes that link us to-
gether. very much like gigantic cen
tipped
The student, feeling himself put
upon his mettle by what the guide
had said. bore up bravely for a time,
but the labor of wading through knee