The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1901-01-15

"''"' AOi'S ueSIeeS, ana the crust was
coating of hard, slippery ice. the
thickness of pasteboard. Through Il
break In the clouds we saw that # ex.
tended downward to timber-line. fully
lou feet, as steep rs the roof of a
mousse and smoother than the smooth.
est glass. How broad it was we could
only conjecture.
AS we came up kellogg struck the
crust with the butt of his gun. and 7
threw rock upon the surface. which
went sliding and bounding down the
steep face with terrific velocity.
We looked at each other i'm dcspoir.
ITS no use" said
Not bit" was the answer
We sat down and talked It over. To
retrace our steps was out of the oues.
ton, and we could not climb to the
top OF the field, probably a thousand
feet, In our weakened condition.
Suddenly kellogg leaped to his feet
and rushed toward the slippery mass.
crying out, Come on; we've got to do
It, I'll take mine this way" Without
a second thought. In my hopeless des-
peration followed BY using his gun
as brace kellogg kept his feet, but
slipped and fell on all-fours and be-
gan sliding down. In wild frenzy I
tried to drive my bare fingers through
the crust. but only succeeded in tear.
ing the skin off them
nRlg /
by frantic effort drove it muzzle first
through the hard crust and came To n
stop. having gone about twenty feet.
Had it not been for this fortunate
move my body would have been hurled
to the bottom of the gorge more than
a thousand feet below, and mangled
beyond all semblance of human form.
Looking up at my companion l saw
That he had turned away his head. I'M
willing to be Il witness Of my horrible
fate, but as | called out to him he
looked around, and | saw Il face so
white and horrOr-stricken that | can
never forget it. Cold beads OF sweat
stood on my forehead, and / felt that
my courage was all gone. The expe
ricnce Of that awful moment almost
unnervcd me, and ] was weak and
helpless s a little child.
Lying on my face | held on tightly
to the rifle driven deep through the
crust. How to regain my footing was
puzzle. Kellogg started to come
down to me. ana It was difficulty that
persuaded him to desst.
At last l hit on a plan. Holding
on to the rifle with one hand. with the
other l drew my pocket-knife. and.
opening it with my teeth, cut two
holes I'm the crust for my feet. and af-
ter much effort stood upright. But we
wore still in a bad fix Kellogg called
out to me to break holes through the
crust for my feet with the butt of the
gun. Although not more than twenty
feet distant he could hardly make him
self heard above the roar OF the storm.
But the suggestion was good one
and proved our salvation. We moved
slowly forward, breaking a hole in the
ice for each step. 1t was severe treat.
ment to give valuable guns. but they
had to suffer in the best interests of
their owners.
Slowly and carefully we moved for
ward, occasionally stopping to rest
and speak words Of announcement to
each other. for now we had the first
CLEAN OF hope for FIVE long, terrible
hours.
Although very weak physically. our
minds were much clearer than an hour
before, and we even went so far as to
chan each other little. But we had
plenty Of fears yet Once my heart
leoped as Kellogg slipped and came
down on both knees. clawing frant-
cally at the air. but he regained his
feet without difficulty, and we pushed
on. Would we ever get across? Every
minute seemed an hrur
Kellogg said that, as nearly as ne
could calculate. we had been founder
ing about on that man-trap for n week!
But we kept going; the end must
come some time. and sure enough II
dld. and at 6 o'clock we stepped on the
granite boulders again, having been
just one hour and ten minutes on that
terrible inclined snOw.fcld Neither
Of MS was much given to demonsira
ton. but there was a hearty hand
shake ana n few things said which
sounded al right up there. but might
look a little foolish in print