Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-06-05
The Daily Story
The Man Who Felt-By r. A. Mitchell.
Copyrighted 1915. by Associated Literary Bureau

I'VE are not vet in the valley. herr"
But we have passed over the great
est danger"
He made no reply to this, and ] did
not mention the matter again.
The next morning we were descend
ing over a path about n foot wide. on
one side Of which was u precipice and
on the other slide over slanting snow
for hundreds OF feet. then gradual
rise. Marx had the lead. Suddenly
the snow gave way under my feet.
and ! fell on the side of the gradual
decline. Marx. seeing that the only
way to keep US both from going down
the decline. threw himself on the other
side, the side of the precipice. The
rope broke. and l went. sliding with
accelerating rapidity, down the. ice
coated snow.
During that slide l thought only Of
Marx. who had gone to his death, for
there was a chance for ME and none
for him. Presently l found myself
shooting upward. at first as rapidly as
had been shooting downward. I
went slower and slower until my
momentum ceased altogether. Then.
there being nothing to hold on to, be-
gan to descend again. But this time
the incline was not so steep, and when
I reached the bottom was able to
stop myself.
/ made my way down the mountain
as best I could. Fortunately the path
by which we had been descending
crossed the depression in which
found myself n few hundred yards be-
low, and, having once struck 1t, I
found no difficulty in reaching the vii
lage. kept my part Of the rope to
show that it had been broken as proof
that / had not saved myself at my
guides expense.
The tragedy ended my climbing ca
reer for years. Indeed, it did not seem
to me that would ever wish to ascend
! mountain again. 1t was not the dan
/ ger to be encountered. but the death of
Otto Marx, who had lost his life in
my behalf.
| Ten years passed. during which !
devoted myself to mercantile pursuits.
! Then decided to take rest in a trip
| to Europe. 1t was summer, and
Switzerland is the camping ground for
about going to the region where had
received my shock, but finally decided
to go among the Alps, though not
where 1t had occurred. Instead Of
Chamounix went to Interlaken.
Roundabout Interlaken there Is fine
scenery. There are the Eiger. the
Jungfrau, the Wetterhorn. There are
Lauterbrunnen. Murren and Grindel-
valid. j stayed awhile in each of these
places. combating a desire to go to
| Chamounix. While ut Grindelwald l
fell in with party of Americans who
were devoted to climbing. They were
composed of both men and women,
and, though they made no regular
ascents Of the larger mountains, they
spent much time far up on their
sides.
I One of their trips was up the Wet
terhorn. and could not resist temp
tation to so with them. We had par
ty OF six persons, conducted by two
guides, the one in advance and the
other in rear The day was fair when
we started. but during the afternoon
when we were we'll up on the side Of
the mountain it clouded over and be-
gan to snow.
snowstorm on mountain not only
covers the path. concealing pitfalls, but
since one can't see about him he can
have no idea of direction. Our guides.
who were both young and not over
experienced. lost their heads and show
ed plainly their fear, and they did
not know what 10 do. 1t showed IN
cessantly and SO thickly that one could
not see a dozen feet from him. We
stopped where we were. on a ledge.
when 1t began and waited.
We remained there huddled together
for three hours. Some Of the women.
who at first had not appreciated the
danger us the men did. were becoming
very much frightened. A cold wind
was blowing, and exercise for the pur-
pose Of keeping warm was impractical
BILE The snow. instead of abating. was
growing thicker. Thinking might
find a less exposed position. started.
walking cautiously. for the purpose. I
had not proceeded far when I heard or
thought heard q familiar call:
Herr"
Was that Otto Marks voice? No
Otto was dead. knew that he was
dead.
"Komt"
At the moment ! saw something
through the fakes just dark enough
to distinguish from the snow. 1t was
vibrating like heated air. II moved
away from me. called to the others
to come to me. but when they reached
the place from which ! called ] had
gone on. but they followed me.
In the lead. following the shade.
we proceeded over freshly fallen snow.
felt no fear as to where ! should
place my foot-why. know not. We
had proceeded in this way for short
distance when we came TO a chalet
AS soon as I saw II lost sight of that
which had guided me- In few mo-
men:s our party were sheltered and
warmed by cheerful flames on q
hearth.