Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-03-28

"Vorwdrts!" rang out Stampas trumpet like
call, and Barth leaped down into the moraine.
CHAPTER x
On the Glacier
RARTH, good man on ice and rock. was not
genius among guides. Faced by an ap-
parently unScalable rock wall or lost in a will
derness of seracs, he would never guess the one
way that led to success But he was skilled in
the technic of his profession, and did not make
the mistake now of subjecting Helen or Spenser
to the risk of an ugly fall. The air temperature
had dropped from eighty degrees Fahrenheit to
below freezing point Rocks that gave safe
foothold an hour earlier were now glazed with
an amalgam of sleet and snow. If, in his dun
mind, he wondered why Spenser came next to
Helen, rather than Bower Stampa,-either
of whom would know exactly when to give that
timely aid with the rope that imparts such con-
hdence to the novice,-he said nothing. STAN
pas eye was on him His pride was up in arms.
1t behooved him to press on at Just the right
pace and commit no blunder
Helen. who had been glad to get back to the
moraine during the ascent, was ready to breathe
sigh of relief when she felt her feet on the ice
again Those treacherous rocks We're alright
ing They bereft her of trust in her own limbs
She seemed to slip here and there without power
to check herself She expected at any moment
to stumble helplessly on some cruelty sharp an
gle of a granite boulder and find that she was
manned SO badly as to render another step inn
possible More than once she was sensible that
the restraining pull on the rope alone held her
from disaster. Her distress did not hinder the
growth of a certain surprise that the American
should be so sure footed. SO quick to judge her
needs When by his help headiong downward
plunge was converted into harmless slide over
the sloping face of rock. she half turned
81 must thank you for that afterward." she
said. with fine effort at smile.
Eyes front. please" was the quiet answer
Under less strenuous conditions it might
have sounded curt: but the look that met
hers robbed the words of their terseneSs and
had never looked at her like that. Just as some
unusually vivid fash of lightning revealed the
hidden depths of a creyasse, bringing plainly
before the eye chinks and crannies not discern
ible in the strongest sunlight 50 did that glimpse
of Sponsors soul illumine her understanding
He was not only safeguarding her. but thinking
of her. and the stolen knowledge set up be-
wildering tumult in her heart.
Attention." shouted Barth. hating and
making drive at something with his ak.
The line stopped. Stampa's ringing voice
came over Helen's head
What is that ahead there
"A new fall. l think We ought to leave the
moraine a little lower down: but this was not
here when we assembled"
How either man, Stampa especially, could see
anything at all. was beyond the girl cOmpre-
hension. The snow was absolutely binding.
The wind was full in their faces, and it carried
spring from beneath rather than drop from the
clouds. Ever and anon weirdly blue CLEAN of
lightning would give demoniac touch to a
scene worthy of the Inferno
Make for the ice-quick!' cried Stampa,
and Barth turned sharply to the left Falling
stones were now their chief danger. and both
men were anxious to avoid it.
After brief scramble they mounted the curv-
ing glacier A fiercer gust shrieked at them and
swept some small space clear of snow Helen
had dim vision of lightning playing above the
crest of a great mound on the edge of the ice
field "a mound that she did not remember
ing before Then the gale sank back to its sus-
tanned bowling the snow swirled in denser vol
ume, and the specter vanished
Ere they had gone another hundred yards.
Barth's hoarse warning checked them again.
The bridge has fallen'" was his cry. There
has been an ice movement
THERE was a question in the man words.
Here nice point submitted to his
to follow the line of the
recently formed ap yawning at his feet. or en-
deavor to cross or 60 back to the scene of the
landslip. That where Barth was lacking.
In that instant he resigned his pride of place
without further effort to retain it He was in
the van but did not lead Thenceforth Stampa
was master
What is the width, ten meterss" de-
manded the old guide cheerfully.
"About that -