CHAPTER TEN.
BEING USED TO IT.
Dale hurried on, with Saxe close behind him, till they were out of thegloomy schlucht, and scrambling over the rocks by the rapidly wideningstream, whose waters had now grown turbid, and were bearing greatpatches of grey froth upon their surface.
They could see for a couple of hundred yards down the narrow way alongwhich the stream ran; then it bore off to the right and was hidden; andto command a better view, as they eagerly searched the surface for sometrace of Melchior, they mounted the tumbled-together rocks, and saw thatthey were at the head of a widening valley, surrounded by nearly levelmountains, forming an oval, which looked like the bed of an ancient lakesimilar to the one they had lately left. But, in place of deep water,there was a plain of thinly scattered grass growing amongst fragments ofrock that looked as if they had been swept down from the mountainsround, and serpentining through the level was the swift river, whosecourse they could trace till it passed through a narrow gap at the farend.
Saxe climbed the higher, and balanced himself on the top of a roughblock, which rocked slightly, like a Cornish logan, as he stood shadinghis eyes and following the course of the stream amongst the hugeboulders which often hid it from view; while from his lower positionDale searched the windings nearer to them, hoping to see that which theysought stranded somewhere among the stones.
But they looked in vain.
"Can you see anything, Saxe?"
"No," replied the boy in a despondent tone: "can you, sir!"
"Nothing. We must follow the stream down. I dare say we shall findsome shallows lower down. Come along quickly."
He began to descend.
"We must find him, Saxe, and then make the best of our way back forhelp. Poor fellow! I'd freely give all I possess to see him safe andsound."
"Then hurrah! Come up here, sir. Look! look!"
"What! you don't mean? Saxe, boy--speak!" cried Dale excitedly, tryingto mount beside him.
"Hi! don't! You'll have me overboard!" shouted the boy, as the greatblock of stone rocked to such an extent that he nearly came downheadlong. "Now, steady! Give me your hand."
The rock was kept in position now by the pressure on one side, but asDale sprang up to Saxe's side, it began to rise again, and they had hardwork to preserve their balance, as they stood straining their eyes towhere they could see a man mounted upon some animal riding slowly acrossthe green level lying in a loop of the stream.
"No, no," said Dale sadly, "that cannot be Melchior. It is someherdsman; but we'll go and meet him and get his help."
"It is Melchior," said Saxe decidedly.
"I would to Heaven it were, Saxe! Impossible! That man is a mile away.Distances are deceptive."
"I don't care if he's a hundred miles away," cried Saxe; "it's old Melk,and he's safe."
"You are deceiving yourself, boy."
"I'm not, sir. I'm sure of it; and he's all right. You see!"
He snatched off his hat, and began to wave it, bursting out at the sametime into the most awful parody of a Swiss jodel that ever startled themountains, and made them echo back the wild, weird sounds.
"There! Look!" cried Saxe excitedly, as the mounted man took off hishat, waved it in the air, and there floated toward them, faintly heardbut beautifully musical, the familiar jodel they had heard before.Then, as it ceased, it was repeated from the rocks to the right, farlouder, and made more musical by the reaction nearer at hand.
"There!" cried Saxe, "what did I tell you?" and he capered about on themoving rock, waving his hat and shouting again, "I--o--a--a--de--ah--diah--diah--Oh! Murder!"
Dale was in the act of saying, "Take care!" when the mass of stonecareened over, and Saxe was compelled to take a flying leap downward onto another piece, off which he staggered ten feet lower, to come downwith a crash.
"Hurt yourself!" cried Dale anxiously.
"Hurt myself, sir!" said Saxe reproachfully, as he scrambled up slowly:"just you try it and see. Oh my!" he continued rubbing himself, "ain'tthese stones hard!"
"Here,--give me your hand."
"Thankye. It's all right, only a bruise or two. I don't mind, now oldMelk's safe."
"Don't deceive yourself, Saxe," said Dale sadly.
"What! Didn't you hear him jodel?"
"Yes, and you may hear every Swiss mountaineer we meet do that. Youhailed him, and the man answered, and he is coming toward us," continuedDale, straining his eyes again to watch the slowly approaching figure."Bah! How absurd! I'm as bad as the sailor who put his cutlass intohis left hand, so that he could have his right free to knock an enemydown with his fist."
As he spoke, he dragged at the strap across his breast, took a littlefield-glass from the case, adjusted the focus, and levelled it at thedistant figure.
"Hurrah, Saxe, you're right!" he cried, lowering the glass, seizing theboy's hand and wringing it vigorously.
"Hurrah! it is," cried Saxe; "I knew it. I could tell by the twist ofthat jolly old mule's head. I say, you owe me all you've got, Mr Dale.When are you going to pay?"
"When you ask me as if you meant it, boy."
"Ah, then! I can't ask!" cried Saxe. "Let's have a look at Melk."
He took the glass extended to him, rested his back against a block ofstone, and carefully examined the figure.
"I say, isn't he wet! You can see his clothes sticking to him. But,Mr Dale, what a swim he must have had. Ah--ae--e--oh--diah--di--ah--diah--"
"Don't, boy, for goodness' sake!" cried Dale, clapping his hand overSaxe's lips. "If Gros hears that, he'll take fright and bolt."
"What, at my cry? That's jodelling I'm learning."
"Then practise your next lesson in a cornfield, when we get home. Anyfarmer would give you an engagement to keep off the crows."
"Oh, I say, Mr Dale!" cried Saxe, "you are too bad. Just you trywhether you can do it any better."
"No, thanks," said Dale, laughing: "I am full of desire to learn all Ican, but I think I shall make an exception with regard to the jodel.Come along down, and let's meet him."
They descended the rock so as to get on to the rugged plain; and tenminutes after Melchior rode up on his bare-backed mule, soaking wet, andwith the mule steaming; but otherwise, as far as they could see, neitherwas any the worse for the late adventure.
"Melk, old chap!" cried Saxe, seizing one hand.
"Melchior, my good fellow!" cried Dale, seizing the other; "I thoughtwe'd lost you."
The guide's sombre face lit up, and his eyes looked moist as he returnedthe friendly grasp.
"Thank you, herrs," he said warmly, "thank you."
"But you are hurt," cried Dale.
"I thank you, no, herr; not much."
"But tell us," cried Saxe, who had been scanning him all the time,"where are you hurt?"
"Hurt? I am not hurt," said the guide quietly. "A few bruises and alump on my head--that is all."
"But the mule,--he struck you down with his hoofs."
"It was more of a push, herr."
"But tell us--we thought you were drowned in that awful place."
"Yes, it was bad," said Melchior, quite calmly. "It is so swift and thewater so full of air that you cannot swim, and one was turned about soand rolled over, but I held on to Gros here, and it did not take longbefore we were through."
"But your breath? Did you keep on the surface?" said Dale.
"I don't know, herr. It was all darkness and confusion; but we wererolled up against the rock sometimes, and I managed to get my breath.Then we were driven on and on very fast. You see the rock is worn sosmooth, there is nothing against which you can catch. The stones sweptdown by the water have worn that all away, and one goes quite quick,holding one's breath, till one is shot out as if from a gun, and thewater gets smoother. Then we got our breath easily, and Gros here beganto swim while I held on by his mane; but we had to go a long way downbefore there was a place for the mule to land."
"But do you mean to tel
l me," cried Dale, "that you both came throughthat horrible place and are none the worse for it?"
The guide smiled.
"Well, herr," he said, "I am very wet, and there were moments when Ithought I could not hold my breath any longer, but there are no bonesbroken and no cuts or grazes."
"Then there is nothing else the matter with you?" cried Saxe.
"Well, yes, herr; I am very hungry."
"Hungry!" cried Saxe excitedly. "Yes, of course: I'd forgotten; so amI. Here, Mr Dale, let you and me go and get the basket whilst he drieshimself in the sun."
"No, no," cried Melchior firmly, "neither of you could carry thatpannier through the schlucht. I am wet, and it will do me good to getwarm carrying the load."
"No, Melchior, it would not be right," said Dale. "I will go."
"No, herr," said Melchior firmly; "as your guide I should be disgracingmyself by letting you run the risk. I have been used from a child tocarry loads upon my back along ledges and places where an Englishmanwould shrink from going. I am not hurt or tired: it is my duty; so withall respect to you I will go."
"But--"
"Answer me, herr, as a gentleman," cried Melchior warmly: "do you feelthat you could safely carry that pannier through the schlucht?"
"I should try to," said Dale.
"Ah! that shows weakness: you cannot say that you would."
They went back to a spot where there was a rich patch of grass, and herethe guide alighted and took off the mule's bridle to turn it loose, whenit immediately proved that nothing was the matter in its direction byhaving a good roll in the grass and then proceeding to crop it with thebest of appetites.
"Light your pipe, herr," said Melchior, smiling: "I dare say I shall beback before you have got through it twice;" and springing from rock torock, he soon reached the ledge nearly flush with the water, and theywatched him enter the low narrow long chasm till his figure grew dim inthe gloom; and a minute later had disappeared.
"I don't feel comfortable at letting him go, Saxe," said Dale.
"I do, sir," began Saxe.
"Stop!" cried Dale.
"What's the matter, sir?" cried Saxe, wondering.
"This, my boy! Never mind the sir while we are out here as companions.We are friends and helpmates--brothers if you like. Now what were yougoing to say?"
"Oh! only that I don't feel uneasy about him. A man who could tumbleinto the water at the other end and be shot through like a pellet from apopgun, can't come to any harm. I say, how long do you think he'll be?"
"Nearly an hour," replied Dale.
"Nearly an hour," cried Saxe dolefully--"an hour to wait before we canget anything to eat. Ah! you lucky beggar," he continued,apostrophising the mule, "you've got plenty, and are enjoying it, whileI've got none. But I mean to--"
"Here! what are you going to do?" cried Dale.
"Climb down to the water's edge and have a good drink. I'm as thirstyas a fish."
"Then we must look out for a spring. You can't drink that water."
"Can't drink it?" cried Saxe; "why, I'm so thirsty, I could drinkanything."
"Not that. Why, it's full of stone and snow. Bad as bad can be. Comealong, and let's see what we can find. It will be better than doingnothing; and I'm thirsty too. Let's try that little rift in themountain. It looks the sort of place for a rivulet to come sparklingdown amongst moss and ferns. Let's try."
He led the way toward the rift, which looked like the beginning of asimilar chasm to that through which they had so lately come, Saxefollowing closely behind, while the mule went on crop, crop at the thinfine grass, with his coat rapidly drying in the hot afternoon sun.
The Crystal Hunters: A Boy's Adventures in the Higher Alps Page 10