Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-12-24

without even looking at them again.
/ leaned out. aud ont. and out. until only
! the rope sustain ed her weight. Der
! heels resting against the narrow Shelf
1 keeping her In position. Then. after
what seemed an endless suspense 10
the men at the end of the rope. her
hand motioned for them to draw her
back to her footing.
Eyes. 1t is the party" she said as she
regained her balance, land some of
them are alive. We must go down TO
| them
But the rope is not long enough"
both guides protested in q breath. "and
we cannot
Yes, think we cam Marcia said.
"or at least we can try. There are
several assures large enough for our
heels to grasp. One of us Will stay
here, another be let down TO a assure
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, l think. You
have plenty of strong Irvine. and that
can be used to draw the rope up from
shelf to shelf as the party are rescued"
"A girl could never draw a 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 them up. /
have done such things before. 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 fissure. then fasten the Irvine
to the rope and let 1t down for Fritz
to lower Gaspard and myself to the
next assure; then Gaspard will lower
me, and | will fasten the rope to some
rock projection. or II 1 cannot find one
l will drill a hole in the rock and drive
in a spike.
Then 1 will go down hand over
hand and see If any Of the party are
able to help themselves.
"If they are, 1 will climb back to
my assure 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. now. mind, all of you" her
voice ringing sharp, there must not
be a hand to tremble or an eye to
waver. On each of us the lives Of all
will depend"
perhaps one OF US men would bet
ter go down to the lowest fissure," hes
itated Henri.
mo; will 60 myself. can do the
work better. 1 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 ALL"
They started 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 fs-
sure below The distance was not
great, but only a steady pair of eyes.
swinging, as she did. over a giddy
height. could have enabled her to
maintain her equanimity.
Having reached the assure. she I'M
bound the rope. 1t was drawn up, and
Fritz was next lowered, then Gaspard.
When the three were ready to go a
step lower Marcia. still taking the lead.
Gaspard followed.
1t was now Marcia'S part to do the
rest alone.
But 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 at the
end of the rope. and, instead of having
it placed about her waist, took ii in
her 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 a rocky projection on which
there was a surface as many feet
square. She called to Gaspard to move
three feet to the left. He did so. and
she called again 70 him to move two
feet farther in the same direction.
Then she told him to swing her gently
to and fro from the cliff. When d.
rectly over the proper place she let
go and safely landed on the rock.
Tying the enQ OF Iue rope arOuDu
point of rock, she completed her jour
ney.
1t was only after a day and night
and another day of such hardihood
and daring as was told at the inns and
chalets for many a long year that the
work was finished.
Even The guides. fred by the exam
pie of Marcia and perhaps also by
sollcitude for the other guides of their
party, seemed to be unconscious OF
fear and hunger and WEAKNESS.
When at the end of the second day
they reached the foot of the mountain
the rescuers were almost as exhaust
ed as the party they had saved. and
from the palms of Marcia Wells hands
nearly all the skin had been worn by
ha ,.ooa