The Washington times., 1905-11-05
b H'RIDEI6 FIAGGARD

our preparations were complete, and IL
was time for US to start upon perhaps
one OF the most desperate journeys
ever undertaken by men Of their own
Will
Yet we stayed. little, looking ss
each other in a piteous fashion. for
we could not speak Only we en-
braced, and I confess I think I wept
little. No, I don't think that
thought OF myself then, but I thought
great deal of Leo. and when 1 saw
his determined face and flashing eye
as he nerved himself to the last en-
deavor. I was proud OF him.
Then side bv side we began the ter
rible descent. At first Il was easy
enough, although a slip would have
hurled Us to eternity. But We were
Htrong and sliIIful accustomed to such
places, moreover. and made none.
A. nus at length we came to the bend.
which was more than halfway down the
precipice. being. so far as I could judge,
about two hundred and fifty feet from
its lip, and say one hundred and fifty
from the darksome bottom OF the mar
row gulf. Here were no stones, but
only some rough ice. on which we sat
to rest.
I'VE must look" said Leo, presently
But the question was. how to do this.
Indeed, there was only one way. 20 hang
over the bend and discover what lay be-
low. We read each others thought
without the need Of words, and I made
a motion as though I would start
No., said Leo. I am younger and
stronger than you. Come. help me-
and he began to fasten the end OF his
rope to a strong, projecting point of ice.
Now" he said. hold my ankles"
1t seemed an insanity, but there was
nothing else to be done, so, fixing my
heels in a niche, I grasped them and
slowly he slid forward till his body van
ished to the middle. What he saw does
not matter. for I saw it all afterward,
but what happened was that suddenly
all his great weight came upon my arms
with such jerk thst his ankles were
torn from my grip.
Or, God knows. perhaps in my terror
I loosed them. obeying the natural i'm
pulse which prompts man to save his
I own life. If 50, may 1 be forgiven, but
had 1 held on, must have been jerked
into the abyss. Then the rope ran out
and remained taut.
''Leo." I screamed, ''Leoi' and I
heard a mufhed voice saying. as L
] thought, Come" What it really said
was: Don't come But, fndeed-and
may it go to my credit did not pause
to think, but face outward. Just as
was sitting. began TO slide down the
! ice.
/ In two seconds I had reached the
curve, in three / was over it, Beneath
was what 1 can only describe as a great
| ieicle broken OF short. and separated
from the cliff by about four yards Of
space. This icicle was not more than
! fifteen feet in length and sloped out
ward, so that my descent was not
sheer. Moreover at the end OF It the
/ trickIfng Of water. or some such acci-
dent. had worn away the ice. leaving
little ledge as broad, perhaps. as
mans hand. There were roughnesses
/ on the surface below the curve, upon
which my clothing caught. also 1 grip
ped them desperately with my fingers.
Thus it came that 1 slid down quite
gently and. my heels landing upon the
little ledge, remained almost upright,
ana with outstretehed arms. lfks
person crucihed to a cross OF ice.
Then 1 saw everything. and the sight
curdled the blood within my veins.
Hanging to the rope. four or hve feet
below the broken point, was Leo. out OF
reach OF it, and out of reach Of the
cliff, as he hung turning slowly round
and round, much as-for in q dreadful,
inconsequent fashion the absurd SINH
Iarity struck me even then-a joint turns
before the fire Below yawned the black
gulf, and at the bottom Of il, far, far
] oeneath, appeared q faint white sheet
OF snow. That is what / saw.
Think OF it. Thini1 OF IT. I erueified
upon the ice, my heels resting upon
ledge: my fingers grasping excrescences
on which a bird could scarcely have
found a foothold: round and below me
dizzy space. To climb back whence I
came was impossible, to stir even was
impossible, since one slip and must be
gone.
And below me. hung like a spider to
its cord. Leo turning slowly round and
round
L could see that rope OF green hide
stretch beneath his weight and the
knots IN it slip and tighten. Agony took
hold OF me; cold sweat burst Irom
every pore. I could feel IL running down
my face like tears; my hair Drlstleo on
nv head And below. in utter silence,
go turned round and round. and each
time he turned his up-cast eyes met
mine with a look that was horrible 10
The silence was the worst of it. the
silence and the helplessness. II he had
cried out, If he had struggled. IL would
have been better. But to know that hs
perception at its utmost stretch on!
my Godi Oh! my GOdi
Then the blackness gathered round mss
and in the blackness Visions-of the EV@
ing, resistless avalanche, OF the snow
grave into which I had sunk-oh! years
and years ago; OF Ayesha demanding
Leo's life at my hands. Blackness ana
silence, through which 1 could only near
Z the cracking of my muscles
/ Suddenly in the blaekness fash, ana
in the silence a sound. The fash was
the flash of a knife, which Leo had
drawn He was hacking at the cord
with it fiercely, hercely, 70 make an end
] And the sound was that OF the noise
he made, a ghastly noise. half shout or
defiance and half yell OF terror as at
length il parted.
| l saw il part. The hide was half cut
/ through, and its severed portion curled
! upward and downward like the upper
land lower lips OF an angry dog. while
that which was unsevered stretched out
slowly till il grew quite thin. Then It
snapped, so that the rope flew upward
and struck me across the face like the
blow of a whip.
| Another infant and Il heard crack