Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-04-12

abrupt end against a half circle OF
mountaineering mountain of rock and
| snow, which rose straight above us
! and disappeared into the clouds. We
halted. Where was the pass? There
was no pass. The only way was up
| and over!
To the right and in front of us the
mountain was unscalable. To the left
1t first rose in rock shape and then
| went on up into the snow, growing
sleeper and sleeper, until, far above,
| the last thousand feet or so appeared
almost vertical But here to the left
| was the place OF crossing. Toward it
| turned Haidar and his volunteers.
For an hour they climbed until they
came once more to the snow edge.
Here Haidar stopped and for a long
five minutes studied the terrain.
After a little. digging in the snow
| with his pole, he worked his way out
| and only very slightly up across the
| slope for above 40 yards. Then he
shouted an order. With a whoop and
| yell two men drove their picks
| through the hard snow crust. Shovel
men followed. AS they dug q dag
onal trail in Haidars direction other
men came after. widening and deep
ening It. When the workers reached
Haidar he turned them round, and
they carried the deep snow path back
| in a diagonal to the first line and
| slightly above II.
| Thus the tribes were to climb, in
| cased by snow walls. So protected
against the otherwise sure fall to
| death, they were to mount little by
| little in zigzags across the face OF
the mountain until they reached the
summit far above. ~
| Hour after hour Haidar and his
men dug on. l often had felt in
clined TO sneer a little at these tribes
mon for the swsgger with which
| they carried their guns and for the
little they knew about caring for
them or using them, but this attack
1 had to admire.
1t was cold up there. The wind
blew steadily. These men had no coats
of fur, no coats of any kind; they
were tribesmen OF warm valleys;
they were clad in thin cotton gar
ments; they worked with their bare
legs and feet buried deep in soft
| snow.
Hour after hour they labored. They
| cheered and whooped and howled.
| They worked in shifts and sections,
sometimes all together. The trail
went on-up and up. There was lit
tie or no grass at the foot of Zardeh
| was brought from the Rakt land be-
| low. Yes, that trail had to be dug.
On the fourth day the last bit was
finished and the stage set for the
crossing of the tribes.
GO hang yourself. Crillon! We
| fought at Argues and you were
not there" That is what l found
dozen men on the night after three
unforgettable days. What wouldn'
they have given to be with usi Shorty
and I were camped half way up Ear
deh Kuh II was blowing like the
| devil and cold. Our muleteers had
gone bolshevist; even Mahommed
was ready to quit. We were com
pletely out of grub. Wed had noth,
| ing to eat but a little native breao
once a day for two days, and we
were going to sleep a bit chilly here
that night, almost at the top oil
Persia. Shorty was dressed only IN
a. light suit. His lips were cracked
and bleeding.
But both of US were at the peak o.
happiness. We had done 1T. There
was no doubt about it. We had seer
as great struggle for existence as
there is, and we had 1T for the screen
| Somewhere, somehow, there may be
battle of man against nature tina
EQUALS this for epic sweep and dra'
matte intensity, but 1 don't believe 1T
| This is what happened.
| Three afternoons before, wher
Shorty and 1 had been down bathing
| in the snow stream that ran by oul
camp and, feeling like young fighting
cocks, were running up toward tht
| trail, we saw that 1t was lined witt
people who were moving straight fol
/ the snow gorge. What was this? M
one had told us that the tribes would
move that day. In an hour IL woult
be dark! 1t wasn't possible that am
one would try to climb Zardeh kuf
in the night. We hurried back; W.
ran.
In our camp all was commotion
Haidar had been raging like a Graz!
man, Mrs. Harrison said, cursing hi
| brothers for dogs and sons of dogs
because they had sent ahead thell
| Number Two wives, with most o.
| their effects, to make camp along tn
| sides of the gorge itself. Thus they
would climb the mountain first on tbs
morrow and miss the struggling mol
in the trail This method of avoiding
I the dangers of the ascent was an In
fringement of Haidar's rights. He had
led the trail-diggers, and he shoult
be first over Zardeh Kuh. Burnins
with anger he now started Off Mrs
Haidar Number Two, with most OF hi
| camp.
Seeing them set out was enough fo1
Shorty and me. We gathered to
gether our men and mules and fol
lowed. Darkness had come on by tn,
time we struck the glacial ice anC
moved out into the snow gorge. Care
fully we picked our way along, ever.
man alert for those deep holes tina
meant good night" forever We
could not afford to lose any animal!
in that way. We worked slowly III
the gorge, near the end of which W.
saw little camp-fires burning. Her
we found our people, and, throwing
our blankets on the rocks just abov'
the snow, we slept.
X
WE were off before dawn, Leaving
w our mules and mule-man behin'
and taking only camera-donkey. o.
foot we climbed higher and highsIsisI