Charlevoix county herald., 1907-05-04
CHAPTER l..
The tragedy.

| tried to call to him. No sound
came from my lips. / was too eX-
hausted. The last atom of strength
was spent. For the moment | was
paralyzed-body and mind. | could
only lean helpless against the noun
tainside, gasping for breath. And al
most Immediately Willoughby's voice
came, quite cheerfully, quite steadily:
'All right? Bully for you. Look
out, here's the rope. Now if I have
decent luck. Be ready to bear hand"
Again | tried to cry out, to warn him.
IF he would wait five minutes, three
minutes, one minute, l might be my
self again. Still no sound came from
my frozen lips.
The rope futtercd 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.
L did not attempt to draw it in.
was too exhausted for an exertion so
slight as that It swayed gently to
and fro, and it seemed to me that
presently an unseen force would grasp
it and pull ne headlong to destruction
to 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 un-
CT OF
was | to give him the assistance he
would surely need presently?
A stone fell, and then another, as he
fought for a 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 WilIoughby from above,
they had been all but impossible. Will
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. I could almost
touch him now. He was actually near
me-and then. what I had feared what
Il had known must happen. did happen.
His feet lost their foOtho!d. He was
hanging by his arms over the ragged,
blue-green glacier that yawned to re-
. ceive him q thousand feet below.
a 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
rmoment bereft me of my very reason
10 think and act. My will was frozen.
My brain was numb.
Then the nightmare passed. Sud
denly l was calm. | took in deep
breath. l braced myself against the
grim cliff for the shock rs he should
fall into my outstretched arms.
But at that instant Willoughby
quietly loosened his hold-even while
i gathered all my poor strength for
that last fight; and before he per-
ished he cried one word, without pas
sion, without despair:
Coward,
His body brushed my own as Il fell.
heard it strike brutally the glacier
below. Then there was stiffness.
He was dead, and l lived.
The stiffness was 0wful-and soil
tude stili moro awful-yast, 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. | 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 delirium ! cried
81 might have saved hmm. | am a
murderer. He died cursing me as a
coward"
And so they judged me. When
was conyalescent and crawled into the
sunshine again, it was too late tC
make excuses even if l wished PEG
ple had already passed sentence.
No one spoke to me. was looked
at askance. IL any pitied, it was a pity
tempered with scorn More than once
a kodak was snapped in my face.
was curiosity. | was a coward.