Evening star., 1925-08-30

two women. such an attempt would
have been madness. To scale the clins
on the right was impossible.
We were trapped.
We had deliberately descended into
a savage cuI de sac, from which the
back the way we had come. And /
felt that was to blame for the mess.
for had been the one TO suggest that
we take the chance. rstr
/ returned to the place where the
balance of the party was waiting.
Vincent had already preceded me.
The situation had become serious. The
sun had dropped behind the big ridge
to our right. and the evening chin
was in the air.
x X
A COLD wind was sweeping the
"A mountainsde Night was rap
idly approaching. There were many
chattering teeth. We were nearly
5000 feet above the sea, facing long
hours of frigid darkness. with abso=
lutely no shelter. in our summer
clothes Quick action of some sort
was imperative. To remain there
overnight was out of the question.
When 1 reached the party Vincent
was working his way down a narrow
ledge to the surface of the ice, with
the intention of seeing If 1t were pos
sible to creep along the edge of the
chute at the intersection of the rocks
and the ice. He held the end of the
rope in his hand | told him he must
tie this around his waist, which he
did. When he got onto the ice he
began cautious descent along the
margin. supporting himself partly
with his hands upon the rocky wall
hal ha al
A large bowlder lay with it's lower
side imbedded in the surface of the
ice: but ii was impossible TO tell how
firmly it might be held, and we were
afra id it might give away when any
one attempted to pass il. But 1t did
not move and, Immediately below it,
Vincent passed around a jutting
point, out of sight of those who were
holding the rope.
1t was now impossible for us to fol-
low his movements, and all we could
do was to keep the rope well in hand
so as to stop him if he slipped. Whit
nall crept out on the point of rocks
to try to keep track of Nincents
progress.
Suddenly there was a violent jerk
on the rope as 1t snapped taut under
the impact of Eincent's 190 sounds of
flying weight. He had slipped, and
for the second time that day had
started down that frightful slope. L
was almost yanked from my feet.
yelled to the boys above to hold hard,
and they threw themselves backward
upon the vibrating line. But the i'm
pulse of gravity, even aided by the
slick treachery of that awful chute,
could not prevail against the strength
of that bevy of determined young fell
lows, and Vincent was again persuad-
ed to forego his penchant for the
lower regions of the mountain.
!. When he had recovered his breath
and his equilibrium, to some extent,
he made himself heard sufficiently to
make 1t plain to us above that it was
impossible for the party to get down
that way and still maintain it's en-
tity as company of worthwhile
human beings.
SOMETHING had to be done forth
~ with to get the party across the
more dependable rocks on the oppo-
site side of the chute. We had moth
ing with which to cut steps in the
hard ice. For climbing we had al
penstocks with sharp steel points;
but these were almost worthless when
it came to gouging out footholds in
such an adamantine surface as that
chute presented.
My decision was quickly made. l
called to Vincent to try to make his
way across the ice to the opposite
rocks. The chute here was only SO
or 60 feet wide. We were well above
him, yet the only support we could
give him on the rope was an oblique
support. Nevertheless, it was of some
help, and we could keep him from
sliding far In case of slip.
He crept slowly in the, direction of
the coveted rocks, kicking his hob
nails as firmly into the ice as pos
sible and jabbing the point of his
alpenstock hard down. He won, inch
by inch and foot by foot, until, at
last, we saw him reach out and grasp
the rocks. To, anchor the rope was
but the work of a few moments. We
now had a slender connection with
the world of safety once more.
Mrs Richardson was now tied to
the end of the other rope and let down
the cliff on TO the ice. Clinging to
the one that was stretched across the
chasm and supported by the one