The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1902-08-12
Copyright 1885, By the International Literary and Nes Servtce

but l scorned as yet to put the things
to use, as had by no means exhaust
ed the resources of my own strength
and agility. There was a assure here
and there, a slight jutting ledge now
and went to work and pulled myself
up from one point to another with
great care and prodigious exertion, the
result being that in an hour or so had
risen 200 feet farther and was at an ell
ovation of 100 feet above the lake.
1t was now high time that / should
put into play the apparatus fashioned
for me by the Florentine artisan. l
took from leather pouch, which was
slung at my side, a hammer and five
eighths inch octagon rock drill of
about ten inches in length, and, reach.
ing up about six feet from the ledge
where l stood, drilled a hole some
three inches deep and with a down
ward slant of perhaps 80 degrees into
the rock. l then took from the same
receptacle stout steel hook, having
a round shank five-eighths of an inch
in diameter and three inches long, to
which hook were attached two straps,
one two and the other three feet in
length, each having at it's end good
sized steel stirrup. Placing the shank
of the hook into the hole which l had
made, with both hands | hung my
weight upon it, and, putting my left
foot into the long stirrup, l drew my
self up and put my right foot into the
s,1, 4s,+s. I.
level with my waist. To my belt was
fastened large harness snap. l i'm
mediately snapped this upon the hook,
and my arms and hands were now free
to recommence operations with anoth-
er set Of hook and stirrups, which l
still had in my bag. The shape and
inclination Of the hook itself as well as
the way my weight hung upon it pre-
vented it from having a disposition to
work out of it's socket, while the down
ward bend of it next to the shank kept
it from turning around. With this
same continuance l had assembled the
Mesa Encantada of New Mexico. The
porous red sandstone with which /
now had to do was much easier to
| and l had no doubt of the success of
my enterprise. had 500 feet to climb,
each operation using up about five
! minutes and advancing me about four
feet 1t would therefore take me ten
hours to get to the top of the rock.
A very agreeable surprise awaited
me- however. had been hard at work
for about quarter of an hour and was
busily engaged in picking away at my
fourth hole when, suddenly and with
out warning, felt some object strike
me on the back of the head. 1 natural
! ly desisted from my work and looked
about me and was not little surprised
to find an inch rope Of good Italian
hemp, with a moose at the end of it,
dangling just before my nose, which
rope hung down from the top of the
cliff, rising 500 feet above my head.
saw that the moose was being low
cred slowly past me, and caught hold
of it and gave it good stout pull. At
once it came to q standstill, and pres
emily l felt an answering tug from
above. The moose was now about on
level with my knees. | placed one
foot within it and bore with most of
my weight upon the rope. In a mo-
ment | was conscious of being lifted.
l detached my apparatus from the
rocks and gave myself up with all the
confidence in the world to the delight
full assistance which had so opportune-
ly come to me.
In five minutes l had gone up fully
300 feet and was consequently a thou
sand feet above the surface of the lake
was not bothered with any apprehen-
sion that my friends above might let
me drop, for the reason that | never
allow my thoughts to dwell upon any
thing disagreeable. was about to win
my bet with the count, | had made
the interesting discovery that the tor
of the mesa was inhabited, and as
was upon the point of browning and
surprising all my previous achieve
ments in the way of climbing | was
supremacy triumphant and happy
When l had still about $50 feet to go
| passed a cavelike hole in the face
of the rock, hole about two and 9
half feet in diameter and running in
ward to such a depth that l could MOI
see the end of it. 1t seemed Of small
Importance to me at the time, but aft
erward l had good reason to remember
it.
Very soon l could hear a creaking a:
of windlass upon which the cable
was being wound, and | could now SCI
that the latter ran upon pulley
which was mortised into the end of {
stout timber projecting some three fee
, over the edge of the cliff. When l wal
within fifteen feet of the top, the wind
, lass suddenly stopped working, and
J remained stationary. The face of al
old man, broad and jovial face, will
) watery gray eyes, Roman nose and |
white, stubby beard. looked down OF
: me over the parapet, and l heard my
) self thus accosted:
"Marry. fair sir, but are thou Tim