Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-08-24
A FALL AND ITS CONSE
QUCNCEs
(By CASTOR de l. Isle.y

Tho mos. terrible one that I know any
thing about is to feel yourself. suddenly
Slipping, sllppng........
The men looked QuestiOningly at Marvel
as he stood leaning against the chimney
piece In reply to their muse inquiries,
he began:
Il was once travelling in the Bcrncss
Overland, among the Alps. We had been
climbing that day. my comrade, Edmund,
his sister, Luciennc and myself. toward
glacier situated about half way up the
| mountain. When we started to make
| our descent, it was already growing dusk
| and we had te reach II little village. look
ing like Il mere spcck In the distance be.
fore nightfall. To shorten our journey.
| We quilted the path that twined around In
| innumerablc loops and started directly
down the mountain side. IL was very
steep and we were Obliged TO use the
greatest prudence, bracing ourselves with
| the alpcnstock and avoiding the slight
| est misstep, in a word, 1t was necessary
to put your whole attention upon the nexc
step l must confess, however that in
spite OF the steepness OF the dcclivtty my
| attention wandered constantly to the COM
panion OF our excursion. In order to let
my eyes rest upon those of Mademoisello
| Lucienne, frequently lifted them from
my alpenstock and the moment canio
when, alas. I looked up once too often.
My stock wavercd in my hand, having no
|
and losing my balance, plunged forward.
| slipping and sliding. In vain did seek to
| retard my periious descent waving my
arms frantically about, all my efforts were
| useless, they served merely to accelerate
| my speed and powcress, | was forced to
| give myself up to my involuntary slide
down the mountain side. 1t must come to
an end somewhere, | thought. as ] sped
| swiftly down, humping and struggling
| and suddenly | saw whore the end would
| Scarcely a hundred yards before me was
| d yawning crack. an abyss. From above.
seeing the grayiSh hue II caused in the
| whiteness of the snow, we had all sup
| posed it to be bit of bare earth. instead
| il was IL bottomless chasm. The sinister
| line drew near and near advancing as II
| IT rose to meet me. A few rods more. y
few seconds. | should cross its edge.....
then, nothng...
"A feeling of horror contracted my mus
| cles stffened my limbs and cut short my
| breath. My mind stood stlli but alas! not
| so my body. With Il mad rush I went
plungins down. OH would nothing stop
me? The fatal abyss crept nearer. nearer.
| waiting for me, moment later, l felS
the ground disappear beneath me, Them
| nothing more...
The story teller paused enjoying the ass
tonished silence OF his audience.
But my dear Marvel said one of
the men, at length. kindly explain to us
If you are your own ghost or really your
self in bona fide flesh and blood
| That Is exactly the question l asked
myself when I recovered consciousness. 1
was greatly surprised to find myself. not
| in another world, but still in this one, ly.
ing in a heap on a sort of shelving plat
form jutting out from the rocks. AT my
lett, at about arms length. was the abyss.
at the bottom OF which 1 had supposed
myself to be lying dead. On my right.
the side of the chasm rose to q height OF
about three yards. l had fallen merely
a matter of IL comparatively few inches.
while believing l had fallen mile. T
drew a long sigh of relief, believing my
self saved already. But l was to expe-
rience the most contradictory emotions,
that day........
Marvel was silent for a moment, then he
continued:
Il thought it would be the simplest
matter in the world to reach the top Of
the chasm but as l tried to rise. l felt
glued to the ground my legs and one arm
refused to make any kind of motion and
at the same time a violent pang shot
through my whole side, from the shoulder
to the knee. l could not make the slight>
est movement. l must. however. get out
OF that terrible place, I said to myself
If l remained. l was lost. My only rec
source was to call for aid. My compan-
ions could not be far away. perhaps they
would hear me. / opened my mouth. AT
| -
voices.
Il must now go back little in my
story. AS l said before. during our de-
scent. my friends sister had proved too
powerful n magnet for my eyes. For over
a year she had possessed my heart but
until the day climbed the mountain
had kept silence, not knowing how She
felt toward me. But that day, l had re-
solved to try my fate and the words
sticking confusedly in my heart l was
1 g = m ~ a no. m IN N
when | had fallen and slid so hurriediN
out of her sight.
"Now. as | started to call for help Z
heard the sound of voices. 1t was Lu-
cienne. her Eoice choked with sobs. She
was weeping! | understood that she ha i
approa ched the place from which she had
seen me disappear and believed me to ba
a confused, shapeless mass somewhere
far below. She was weeping for me!
tried to call out but I could not succeed
in framing the words. my tongue Glove to
the roof of my mouth and all could do
was to listen, realizing only one thing and
that was that the woman | loved and be-
lieNcd had lost was weeping for me.
| Just then their voices sounded nearer
and l could distinguish the words. Her
brother was trying to console her but Lti-
cienne answered sobbing:
! II wish l had fallen, also I am the
, cause of his death for he would have been
more careful had he known that i loved
him."
, a wave of happiness rushed over me. I
! tried once more to call but Edmond did
not leave me time Leaning over the edge
. OF the abyss he saw me and cried:
He lives. Lucienne! He is alive!'
'With "A leap he stood beside me. Tho
young girl followed quickly and looking
, deep into my eyes, her own filled with
love, she demanded:
"Why didn't you call to us?"
because l was listening" REPLIED