Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-28

then accepted. They prepared for q start as
soon as the weather would permit
Three weeks went by, and every day the
mists and boiling storm clouds hid the white
dome. Then at last, the 9th of August,
1876, Balmat rose and that the weather
was clearing He went to Paccard's house.
Well doctor" he said, "are you quite sure
of yourself? Have you no fear of cold, or of
snow, or Of precipices?"
The doctor had no fear
Then" said Balmat, "tIle moment has come
90 climb the little mole hill"
They wished to keep their going secret for
time, so the only person taken into their con-
6dence was the shopwoman from whom they
bought supplies.
They asked her to keep a lookout for them
next morning on the Dome de Goute In the
afternoon they tramped down the Arvo to the
village OF La Cote, then mounted the ridge.
They had decided in favor of the bivouac on
the summit of the ridge. Both slept passably
until in the morning.
Soon, over Mont Blanc, came the faint grey
line of dawn that Balniat had come to know so
well Then the sun followed this time without
q cloud to hide it. They set on their way,
within 10 minutes had left solid ground behind
and were finding their way over the ice. This
Is the point where the ridge OF La Cote divides
the advancing glacier into two streams and, as
is usual in such place the ice has been
strained and twisted into a complex system
of deep chains and tottering pinnacles. Balmat
had come to know this labyrinth as if it had
been his own barnyard, so he made his way
boldly between and over the creyasseS and
around the leaning towers of ice. Paccard at
nrst was uncertain, but soon he was inspired
by the confidence of the other and they moved
on at good pace
THE rocks of the Grands Mules were reached
and passed, and hour after hour they
climbed the snow slopes above The sky was
still clear and blue, but a lively wind was
blowing up from the valley, and the higher
they went the fiercer it blew. On the steep
and slippery Slopes where they chung the wind
was an increasing threat to their lives AS it
dashed at them they were forced to throw
themselves fiat on their faces and hang on
desperately.
Then there was a short respite and Balmat
pulled himself to his feet. They were now on
the slope where the Shopwoman had been told
TO keep watch for them. Balnat drew out
his glass and focused it on the market place
of Chamonix. There was the good woman in
group Of SO others, all gazing up.
But the vital force of DR.. Paccard had be-
gun to run low, and even the iron frame Of
Balmat was dropping. They had battled hard
for IL hours on end against the forces of ice
and gale. But now the top was within plain
sight: already they stood higher than any
man had ever stood before on all the CONT
nent of Europe
They struggled on, with heads down, gasp
Ing for breath in the thin air. Every 10 feet
impossible to start again Although the great
goal of their lives was stones throw ahead
they felt toward it, to all else in the
world, supreme indifference. Their struggle
upward had become merely mechanical.
The steepness of the slope beneath their
deet eaSed on and unconsciouSly they moved
faster. Soon they walked level snow. They
looked up and around-there was nothing above
them. They stood on the summit of Mont
BlancI