Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1909-12-28

are now. and II YOU Term out your
heels may slip. and then aud then
4 you will 20 down ;(id drag Us With
| you. Il may be death"
1T may be life tor the Ten persons
the SNOW carried over do not KNOW.
bat there is the edee of something
dark Just over the bulge OF rock. and
thought saw II stir You may nold
your knives ready. aud il fall you
eau Gu, the rope quickly aud save
yourselves. Now.
They pressed the rope sharply against
the rock wall behina aud braced them
selves as firmly as possible 10 hold II
from slipping or swaying. Marcia,
without even looking az them again.
leaned out. and out. and out. until only
the rope sustained her weight her
heels resting against the narrow shelf
keeping her in position. Then. after
what seemed an endless suspense to
the men at the end OF the rope. her
hand motioned for them to draw her
back to her footing
Yes it is the party" she said as she
regained her balance, ~and some of
them are alive. We must go down TO
them"
"But the rope is not long enough"
both guides protested in breath. land
we cannot
"Yes. | think we can" Marcia said.
''Or at least we can try. There are
several assures large enough for our
heels to grasp. One of us win stay
here. another be let down TO fssure
as far as the rope will reach. and so
on. There are three of you guides and
myself. Four lengths of the rope will
reach down to the party. think. You
have plenty of strong twine. and that
can be used to draw the rope up from
shelf to shelf as the party are rescued"
"A girl could never draw heavy
body up this wall" fearfully, "and-
and if the rope should slip away and
be lost
I'VE will take that risk. And ! shall
be strong enough to draw theEa up. l
have done such things bef0re. Now,
Henri" as she worked her way along
the shelf to his side and mOtiOned for
the other guides to follow, "you will
stay here and lower the rest Of us to
the next assure. then fasten the iwine
to the rope and let it down for Fritz
to lower Gaspard and myself to the
next fssure; then Gaspard will lower
me. and | will fasten the rope to some
rock projection. or If cannot find one
will drill hole in the rock and drive
10 a spike.
Then l will go down hand over
hand and see if any of the party are
able TO help themselves.
If they are. / will climb back to
my fissure and draw them up. or per-
haps some of them will be able to help
me. If not. will have to go down to
fasten each one separately. then climb
back and draw him up.
And. DOW. mind. all of you" her
voice ringing sharp, there must not
be hand to tremble or an eye to
wayer. On each of US the lives of all
will depend"
Perhaps one of us men would bet
ter go down to the lowest assure" hes
itated Henri.
work better. think. and my muscles
have been trained for and by such
work 1t may be the entire party are
alive and we can save them an
They starred TO follow the plan the
girl had laid down. Marcia. having
assumed the leadership. naturally took
it upon herself to be the first one low
cred
The rope having been fastened about
her waist. she was lowered to the iis-
sure below. The distance was not
great. but only a steady pair Of eyes,
swinging. as she did. over giddy
height. could have enabled her to
maintain her equanlmity.
Having reached the issure. she un-
bound the rope. 1t was drawn up. and
Fritz was next lowered. then Gaspard-
When the three were ready 10 go
step lower Marcia. still taking the lead,
was lowered 10 the next assure. and
(iaSpard followed.
II was now Marcia's part TO do the
rest alone.
hut this step was more dangerous |
than the others. for there was but |
one pair OF arms to bear her weight,
and the distance was greater than
either of the two former descents.
The brave girl made a loop AZ the !
eud OF the rope. and lnstead OF having |
il placed about her waist, took II in |
ber hands that she might drop what
ever distance the rope would not |
reach,
And so. swinging by her two hands.
she was lowered to the ropes full
length.
There still remained six feet between |
her and rocky projection on which
there was surface as many feet
square. She called TO Gaspard to move |
three feet 10 The left. He did 40. and
she called again iO him TO move two 1
feet farther In The same direction.
lhen she told him 20 swing her gently |
to and fro from the clitf When di-
r9ctly over the proper place she lei
20 aud safely landed on the rock.