Amador ledger., 1904-03-04
The GUIDE AND
THE TOURIST
fOriginal.1

pniy twenty-five, and many people be-
lieved that he did not take sufficient
care in crossing dangerous places, but
all admitted that he was brave and
that his impulses were noble. Jean
lived at Chamounix, right In among
the mountains, and loved Clochette, the
daughter of Antoine Eefour, who kept
little inn in the valley below. Clo-
chette, as soon as she saw Jean, lived
only for him. They were to be mar
ried as soon as Jean could accumulate
5000 francs. 1t could not be sooner
because Defour would give his daugh-
ter to no one who possessed less, and
Jean had only 5000 francs.
One day an Englishman came to
Chamounix and asked for guide.
There are many guides" said the per-
son of whom he inquired, having diff
ferent requirements. If you wish one
who will give his own life for yours in
case of necessity I would recommend
Jean Carrier" This was enough Jean
was engaged, and the two started to
climb one of the smaller peaks.
The next day the stranger came back
without Jean and reported that when
they were passing an almost perpen-
dicular point Jean had slipped, the rope
had broken and Jean had fallen into
the crevasse. The tourist showed the
rope, which had evidently been broken
midway between him and his guide.
There was no doubt that it had broken,
for the edge was frayed.
''That was just like Jean," every one
said, "to go out with an imperfect rope.
He was always careless Then, too, he
did not stop to cut his steps properly.
But he was good fellow, brave fell
low, and if either he or another was
to go into the crevasse he would prefer
to be the one to co.
From the moment the Englishman
returned without Jean, Clochette was
changed. He said he was rich and Of
fered her a pension. But Clochette
would not have 1t. Her father endeav-
ored to persuade her to accept it, but
she still declined, and when her father
asked her to give her reasons she told
him that she did not believe the Eng
lishman's story. "That is woman's
reason" replied her father. "What OBJ
ject would he have in lying? And does
not the frayed end of the rope plainly
show that 1t was brokenT To this
.Clochette had no reply, but she would
not accept the pension.
On more than one occasion tourists
came to the valley who talked about
the case of the Englishman who had
lost his guide and spoke of him as be-
coming q marked man In his country.
He was lord, though he had not trav
eled as such, and had married the
daughter of a duke. He was honored
for his talents, but since his mishap
in the Alps he had worn a melancholy
mien, and no one could induce him to
speak of the adventure. Letters came
from him from time to time to old De
four asking if Clochette had, not re-
Tented and would accept handsome
pension, the amount of which grew
with every letter Still she declined.
Years rolled by. Clochette never mar
ried. She had other suitors, but her
answer to them all was, II am waiting
for JEAN" But you can never have
Jean in this world. He is dead.'' "He
will come to me to tell me how he met
his DEATH" At this they would think
the poor girls brain had been turned
by her sorrow and press her no fur
ther. And so Clochette grew to middle
age, and when her father died she kept
the inn.
One spring she heard that at a point
down the valley the glacier had broken
and revealed dead body, perfect as
when 1t had been frozen in the ice
twenty years before. She threw down
toastlng fork she held in her hand
and started to see this body. When
she arrived, lying on a block of ice
near where he was found, she saw the
lost Jean. There was the same 1.-the
figure, the same dark wavy hair, the
features of q young man Of twenty
two. And there, too, was something
upon which Clochette kept her eyes
fixed, seemingly without the power to
withdraw them. Around the waist was
the climbers rope, and but twelve
inches from the body the end showed
plainly that it had been cut.
Those who stood about had not known
Jean and were not aware whose body
lay before them till Clochette told
them. The first thing she did was to
take the rope from the waist, which
she kept in her own possession. The
body was laid away, and as there were
very few people near by who had
known Jean its finding attracted little
attention.
A week later the tourist who had
been with Jean twenty years before
received a package by express. Open
ing 1t, he took out rope, tied as 1t
would be about a mans body, one end
of which had been cut with a sharp
knife.
From that day the man, who had
been long rising in the governmental
affairs of his country and who was
looked upon as one soon to become his
party's leader, withdrew from public
life and went into retirement from
which he was never afterward drawn.
On jeans body was found a letter
which he had received and on which,
IN rough red letters-his own blood
was message:
Eweetheart-I may not die for hours. He
slipped and pulled me off my feet. Ten
fset below him was level ice. Crevasse
below me. We must one or both die I
cpt the rope. He will provide for you.
Farewell. JEAN
Then Clochette knew that the tourist
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