Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-09

hopes sank as they saw the ridge that they
meant to climb next day. Nevertheless, they
carefully reconnoitered the route and commit
ted it to memory. then returned to their shelter
with chastened spirits.
The hours Of the night passed slowly. About
2 O'Clock they rose in the frigid darkness and
made their coffee. The faint light Of dawn an
hour later showed their faces gaunt and lined
At the start they rounded the shoulder Of the
mountain, crunched across a frozen snow field
and started hacking their way up the ice of a
gully. Soon they diverged to the right, reached
the foot Of the great eastern ridge and started
to mount its crest The rocks were hewn into
fantastic shapes, piled one upon the other
Scaling them soon became a work Of sustained
intensity calling to the utmost on every muscle
in the body.
AT one point the climber would haul himself
over steep slab by his hands, his feet clawing
frantically for infinitesimal holds. Again he
would twist himself up smooth walled CHM
ney kept from falling by his back pressed
against one side, his knees and hands against
the other. At times he would find himself
stretched on the face Of the rock, arms and
legs stretched to their limit to keep in the holds.
Two hours OF such work made all three glad
Of a short halt Then Tyndan and his guides
resumed their gymnastics. The work became
even harder and after consultation they left
the ridge to try the face. But the latter in
volved the endless cutting OF steps in the hard
to the ridge This became gradually narrower
and the precipiceS each side more sheer
They came to gap 20 yards in width that
looked impossible. The ridge here narrowed to
thin rock wall. That need not deter them,
but upon the rock wall rested a second wall Of
snow, which dwindled to a sharp knife edge,
white and fine of grain. It seemed certain
that If a human being set his foot upon this,
he would crash through and go bounding down
the cliffs. Bennen was in front He looked at
1t long tried it gingerly with his toe Then to
the establishment of the others, he began to
cross it, his toes turned outward like those of
ught-rope walker. At last he reached the
opposite rocks and turned to the others with a
smile. Inspired by his example and steadied
by the rope, they followed him safely.
Afterward Tyndall's scientific zeal classified
the incident as an example of regelation-the
freezing Of the powdery snow under the weight
OF Bennens steps into Semi-solid mass that
would support his weight. But the guide,
aided by theory had done daring thing, from
which others might have shrunk though backed
by all the theories in the encyclopedia
They continued to work their way up the
ridge. Now the summit began to play hide and
seek with them. Seen over minor eminence,
it was tantalizingly close, then it drew away
again. Six hours had been spent on the ridge.
They became callous and, stupefed with inces-
SAINT knocking about, they hoped that their
muscles still carried the reserve necessary to
meet an unforeseen emergency.
Another Eeminence1 now fronted us behind
which-how far we knew not-the summit lay
within reach, silvery pyramid projected itself
against the blue sky. was assured ten times
over by my companions that it was the highest
point before ventured to stake my faith upon
the assertion. feared that it also might take
rank with the illusions which had SO often be-
set our ascent, and shrunk from the conse-
quent moral shock