The Batesburg advocate. [volume] (Batesburg, S.C.) 1901-1911, 1904-07-21

slopes that fall hundreds OF feet dowr
into the valley below: and also the
Klein Tor little) Schwarzweiss gia cier,
name so given it. not because OF its
smallness-for il. is two miles long.
and In one place, half a mile across
but To distinguish it from the Gross.
SchwarZweiss glacier that hangs above
OH the other side OF the pass
1t is lonely and grim road. road
In which 10 bird is heard or seen from
the time that the village of St Chris.
toph is left behind on the Swiss side
until the village of Santa Madre Is
reached on the Italian side: road that
winds n, FIRST. and ut last. through fir
woods and pine trees. but that i'm the
middle is nothing but a path. cut in
some parts ana blasted in others.
along the granite sides of the rocks.
and hanging in many places above
tht valley far below. Patches of snow
and pieces of rock that have fallen
from above, alone relieve the view on
ihe side of the path: on the opposite
side OF the ravine is nothing but a
huge wall of granite that holds no
snow, SO slippery is it: but above which
hangs, white and gray, like the face
OF corpse. the glacier from which
the pass derives its name.
a lonely and grim road even in the
daytime. when IL few rays of sunshine
manage TO penetrate il at midday,
when occasionally party of tourists
may he met with. aud when sometimes
the voice of goatherd calling his
ilocks rises from the valley below; but
lonel!er and more grim, and more
black and impcnetrable at night, and
rarely or even then trod by human
foot. For he who should attemut the
passage of the SchwlrzweisS Pass at
night, unless there were a brilliant
moon TO light him through its most
dangerous parts. would take his life
In his own rands
Yet, on an August night OF the year
in which this tale is told, and when
there WAS Il moon that. being near its
full, consequently rose late and shone
till nearly daylight. man was making
his way across this pass to Italy.
Midnight was close al hand as, with
weary steps, he descended a rough
hewn path in the rock-a path which.
for safety. had a rude handrail of iron
attached TO the side from which it was
cut-and reached small plateau. the
size, perhaps. of an ordinary room.
ana rrnm which again the path went
on. From this plateau shelvoh down,
for hundred feet or more an almost
perpendicular morIine. or glacier he'd.
and at the foot of this lay the Klein.
SchwarEweisS. with it's crevasses ellis.
tening in the moual.%ht; for the moon
mad tappch eveI the great mountains
above hy now. aud lighted up the plss
II was evidently considered a danger
oGs part of the route, since between
the edge OF tie plateau and the side
OF the moraine u wooden railing ad
been erecte:l, consisting OF two short
upright posts and long cross one. AS
the man reached this plateau, holding
10 the raj with one hand while with
the other lac used his alpcnstack AS a
walking stick. lie perceived a stone
it may have been placed there for the
purpose-large enough for IA seat: and
taking of his linapSack YEARLY, he sat
down upon it.
Time presses he muttered TO him.
self, ''yet 7 must rest Otherwise
snail not be at Santa Madre by eight
o'clock To borrow. l can go no farther
without a rest"
There is an indefinite feeling Of sw,
In nl.ng alone NJ night amongst
the mountains, in knowing and feeling
that for miles around there is no other
creature in these vast, cold solitudes
but ourselves; and this man had that
fe cling now.
How still-how awful this pass
is"' he said to himself. with no sound
but the creaking OF that glacier below
with no human being here but mo.
Yet. | should be glad | am alone"
At this moment few stones in the
slipped and fell into the ga-
c!er and the man started at the dis.
tinct sound they made in that Wild
erness of silence, Then, as he sat
there gazing up mt the moon and the
snow above him, he continued his med
itatiOns.