The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1907-05-03
CHAPTER |.
The Tragedy.

Willoughty?
| tried to call to him No sound
came from my lips. l was too ex.
hausted. The last atom of strength
was spent. For the moment | was
paralyzed-body and mind. l could
only lean helpless against the noun
tainside. gasping for breath. And al
most Immediately Willoughbys voice
came. quite cheerfully, quite steadily:
All right? Bully for you. Look
out, here's the rope Now if / have
decent luck. BE ready TO bear a hand"
Again | tried to cry out, to warn him.
~ he would wait five minutes, three
minutes. one minute, might be my
self again. Still no sound came from
my frozen lips.
The rope luttered over the over
hang. 1t struck the icy ledge of the
jutting rock to which | chung. Then
slowly it fell over until it swayed
loosely in the wind, still suspended
from my body
| did not attempt to draw ii in.
was too exhausted for an exertion so
slight as that. 1t swayed gently to
and fro, and il seemed to me that
presently an unseen force would grasp
it and pull me headlong to destruction
10 the glacier below. In the mean
while Willoughby was started
Now l dared not cry out. / could
only look up and wait. still struggling
fiercely for my breath. But if had
been too exhausted to warn him, to I'M
fasten that rope from my waist. how
vas | to give him the assistance he
would surely need presently?
A stone fell, and then another. as he
fought for foothold. | could hear
him breathing deeply, though as yet |
could not see him. | stood rigid, look
ing upward, a prey to such fears, to
such terrors as no man can imagine.
Now he came slowly into sight, his
feet feeling with infinite caution. The
difficulties of the descent were appall-
ing. Even for me, supported by the
rope held by Willoughby from above,
they had been all but impossible. VIII
loughby was no amateur: but without
assistance-no, / could not hope to
save him. 1t must be death for us
both. But, and this was the agonizing
thought. when the crisis came, would
the awful stimulus release my impris-
oned Will? Or would horror still hold
me?
And still he came. could almost
touch him now. He was actually near
me-and then. what had feared, what
l had known must happen, did happen
His feet lost their foothold. He was
hanging by his arms over the ragged,
bue-green glacier that yawned to re-
ceive him thousand feet below.
moment he struggled frantically.
Then he hung absolutely still
Can you reach me?" he painted.
Brace yourself and reach me il you
can But be quick"
| did not move. ] was not afraid to
die with him, though the world has re-
fused to believe me. did not move
because could not. Horror for the
moment bereft me of my very reason
To think and act. My will was "roZen
My brain was numb.
Then the nightmare passed. Sud
denly / was calm. | took in a deep
breath. | braced myself against the /
grim cliff for the shock rs he should /
tall into MY outstretched arms.
But at that instant Willoughby |
quietly loosened his hold-even while |
gathered all my poor strength for
that last tight; and before he per
ished he cried one word. without pas
sion. without despair:
Coward"
His body brushed my own as II fell.
heard II strike brutally the glacier
below. Then there was stiffness.
He was dead, and | lived.
The Stiffness was awful-and soil
tnde still more awful--vast. savage,
and frozen. and always the Wilderness
of the eternal SHOWS. And then dark
ness came.
Hours later guides found me still !
lying there | saw them scrambling
toward me. I gazed at them stupidity.
indifferently. When they called | did
not answer They bore me back to
the Alpine village we had left the day |
before. There were black nights of
delirium. And in my delirum cried:
II might have saved HIM. i am a
murderer. lie died cursing me as
coward"
And SO they judged me. When /
was conyalescent and crawled into the
sunshine again, IL was too late TO /
make excuses even If wished. Peo- |
pie had already passed sentence.
No one spoke to me. ! was looked |
at askance. II any pitied. 1t was pity |
tempered with scorn. More than once
a kodak was snapped in my face. / |
was a curiosity. ] was a coward.
NnaHreo A.