The Hardin tribune-herald., 1937-11-19
IN TWO PARTS-PART ONE

In .IWO FARIS-PART ONE
TT seemed to me that little Mrs.
Laurent was unduly anxious. OF
course it's natural for q wife to
Il be concerned about her husband
when he's on a big expedition. But
DR.; Laurent and young Tierney were
well past the hard part of their climb.
We had seen them on the summit an
hour ago. To come down the ordinary
way, as they planned, would be child's
play for mountaineerS as competent
as they. Yet Mrs. Laurent had sat all
morning with her eyes glued to the
END of the telescope.
left my pipe and book on the bench
IN front of the hut and strolled over
to join her. At first she didn't look
up, didn't even known I was there
and watched her for a minute like
an eavesdropper.
She always, thought had that air
OF being little bit frightened. Perhaps
1t was her eyes, so much too big for
the rest of her. Dark eyes with some
thing wistful about them, as if she
were a mid-Victorian, sweet-Alice sort
OF wife. She wasn't really, suspected.
I had seen her once in the Zmutt
Ridge. at the overhanging part, and I
knew that there was fire in her. She
wasn't at all the sort to hang on her
husbands neck and beg him not to
take chances.
She had been very calm and matter
of-fact about this expedition last night
when had sat with the three of them
in front of the hut after dinner. They
hadn't planned to take her along-the
for a woman. But she didn't seem to
mind being left behind.
When said goodnight and went
indoors she was telling them cheerfully
what she planned to do. with herself
all morning. "A little. later heard the
doctors heavy tread coming into the
hut.
It must have been half an hour or
SO after midnight when was wakened
by the sound of hobnails on the bare
boards of the hall outside my door. I
lay while in the pleasant, half awake
state of the mountaineer who's taking
with his fellows in the middle of the
night. It was freezing cold and the
vague, dark masses of the mountains
seen through the window didn't look
inviting.
From the open room below came the
hum of talk, the clink of heavy cups
and saucers. I visualized the various
movements of preparing for start,
thought I heard someone clump out
side to look at the weather. was about
to drop off to sleep when Mrs. Lau-
rents voice came. up to me, higher than
its usual pitch, urgent:
=: please don't go today"
couldn't make out the answering
rumble of the male voice. Then:
IF you go I'm going, too."
That was all heard.
She must have had bad dreams, I
thought, as looked at her now.
They're making good time," said.
She turned toward me with start,
as if she'd been asleep. It seemed to
take her a moment or two to get hold
Here" she said, don't you want to
look?"
Before I looked through the glasses
I raised my eyes to get the view as
whole. It's grand mountain, the
Rothorn, flinging itself up fom the
midst of its glaciers as if it weren't
dead rock at all but live thing lung
ing for the sky. I followed the jagged
silhouette of the ridge at the left; the
route that the doctor and Tierney had
taken, one of the great rock climbs of
the Alps.
about-that knife edge where you had
to keep right on the crest, fighting
your way up and over the endless
series of spikes. The last pinnacle of
all was the summit, sharp and slender
1t wasn't a horn, it was tooth,
tigers fang: And. with the sun still on
its red granite. it was blood-stained
fang.
"You can see them there, just above
the Couloir," said Mrs. Laurent.
Through the telescope, the rocks
leaped toward me. searched all over
the round circle of the frame. There
they WERE Two tiny figures that
crawled down from ledge to ledge,
cropping slowly for hand and footholds:
Those were steep rocks, no doubt of
it. though not to be compared with the
ridge that had been climbed.
Perhaps it was the Couloir that made
EFFORT is ABANDONED
I7o11o r,,1i, of tho