The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1923-10-06

him around tho shoulder Of the
ridge. clear Go the edge OF u little.
deeply scanned glacier such as
uowns 80 many ut the larger hills
In the far North.
Few werc the Wild animals that
lraycued this Icy desolotion, 40 HIS
trap line had been laid out around
the glacier. following the hlaEcd
trail Ia the scrub timber HUT To,
day the long way round was partie.
uhrly gTiovoua To his spirit More
than a mile could bc saved by
leaving the timber end climbing
across tho ice, ard only few scts,
none Of which had ever proved
especially productive. would be
missed, In the first few weeks tho
danger OF going astray had kept
him close 10 his line. but he was
not Obliged 60 take IL into consid,
Grafton now. He knew his country
end to end
Without an instant's hesitation he
turned from the trail straight over
tho snowy summit toward the cab.
m The cutoff would save him
tho annoyance OF making camp
after dark And since he had
climbed IL once before, he scarcely
felt the need OF extra caution,
The crossing. however WAS not
quite the same as ON the previous
occasion. Before tho lee had been
covered. completely across, with a
heavy snowfall. no harder TO walk
ON than the open hhrrrns He
soon found now that tho snow pre-.
vailed only TO the summit Of the
glacier. and tho descent beyond the
summit had been swept clean by
the winds
Below him stretched haltmile
OF glare ice. ivory white, like the
fangs Of some fabulous beast OF
prey. Here and there Il was
gashed with crcyices those decp
glacier chgsms into which a stone
fails in siiencc. For moment
Ned regarded IL with considerable
displcasure.
lie was not equipped Tor leo
scaling. Perhaps II was best not
to try TO so on. But as he waited.
the long way down and around
seemed To grow In his imagination.
Il wns that deadly hour OF late
afternoon when the iounts Of en-.
ergy run low and the thought.
mechanism Is dullcd by fatigue
and some way. he fcit his powers
Of resistance slipping away from
him He forgot. for the moment.
the fear that Is the very soul of
wisdom.
He decided to take a chance, ac
removed his snowshoes and ven.
tured carefully out upon the lee.
IL WIS easter than Il looked
His moccasins chung very we'll
Steadily gaining confidence. he
walked at faster pace The slope
was not much on this side. the
glacier ending In an abrupt cliff
many hundred feet in height. so
no felt little need of especial pre-
caution. IL was in fact. the cas-.
lest walking that he had had since
his arrival upon tho island. so no
decided not TO turn or clear until
he reached the high ground just
10 one side OF the Ice cliff. 10
crnwied down series Of shelves.
picked his way about a Jagged prom.
ontory. and fetched up At last
at the edge Of dark crevics
scarcely 80 feet from the edge OF
tho snow.
The crevice was not much over
five feet wide at this point. and
looking along. he saw that hun.
bred yards to his right q ended In
snowbank. But there was no
need OF following It down. lie
could leap II at standing Jump.
with running start ho could
bound 10 feet beyond.
He was tired. eager 10 get 10
eamp-and this was the zero hour.
He drew back three PAGES. prepare.
tory to make the leap.
As he halted he WIS somewhnt
amazed NJ she incredible depth Of