CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
MELCHIOR'S ADVENTURE.
Saxe woke the next morning with a start, and, as full recollection came,he looked round at where Melchior lay; but he was not there. Dale was,however, sleeping soundly; and creeping silently out, so as not toawaken him, Saxe found, to his surprise, that the guide was seated bythe fire, feeding it carefully and sparingly with sticks, so as to getall the flame to bear upon the coffee kettle; and, to Saxe's greatdelight, he seemed to be much as usual.
"Why, Melk," he said, "I was afraid you would be very bad."
"I? Oh no, herr. I was very bad last night, and it was hard work toget back here; but the sleep did me good. You see, we mountain peopleget used to being knocked about, and I am not much hurt."
"But--"
"Yes, I'll tell you presently, when the master is awake: it is notpleasant to talk about twice. Here he is."
"Why, Melchior, man, you surprise me!" cried Dale, shaking hands warmly."Here have I been dreaming all night about a long journey to fetch a_chaise a porteurs_ to carry you down, and here you are just as usual."
"Yes, herr; and the coffee will be ready by the time you have had yourbath."
"But I want to know--"
"Yes, herr, I'll tell you soon;" and a very, very short time after, asthey sat round their meal, Melchior went on sipping his coffee andeating his bacon, as if he had never been in peril in his life; whilethe others, in spite of the hunger produced by the keen mountain air,could hardly partake of a morsel from the excitement they felt as theguide told of his mishap.
"I always feel, herrs, when I have had to do with an accident, that Ihave been in fault, and that I have to examine myself as to what I hadleft undone; but here I cannot see that I neglected anything. Thecrevasse was not wide. I had seen you both leap in safety, and Ifollowed. It was one of the misfortunes that happen to people, whetherthey are mountaineers or quiet dwellers in the valley."
"Yes; a terrible accident, Melchior."
"Yes, herr. Sometimes we go to mishaps, sometimes they come to us.Well, Heaven be thanked, my life was spared. Ah! herr, I am very proudof you two, for I seem to have taught you a little. Very few of our menwould have worked more bravely, or done so well."
"Oh, nonsense! We acted as any one else would under the circumstances,"said Dale hastily. "Tell us about your accident."
"My fall, herr? There is very little to tell."
"Little!" echoed Saxe. "Oh, go on: tell us!"
"Very well, herr," said Melchior simply; but he remained silent.
"We thought you were killed," said Dale, to bring the guide's thoughtsback.
"Yes, herr; you would. It was a bad fall; very deep, but not like goingdown from a mountain. I am not broken anywhere; hardly scratched,except my hands and arms in climbing."
"But you jumped across the crevasse, Melk!" cried Saxe, "and then agreat piece broke out."
"Yes, herr: so suddenly that I had not time to use my axe, and before Icould utter a cry I was falling fast down into the dark depths. Ibelieve I did cry out for help, but the noise of ice and snow fallingand breaking on a ledge some way down drowned my voice; and as I turnedover in the air, I felt that I had made my last climb, and that the endhad come, as I had known it come to better guides."
"There are no better guides," said Saxe warmly.
"No!" echoed Dale, and they saw the man's face flush a little throughhis swarthy skin, and his eyes brighten.
"Oh yes, herrs," he said; "but we all try to do our best. What was Isaying? I remember: that I was falling down and down, and set my teethand held my axe with both hands to try and strike if I should reach aslope, so as to stop myself; but there was nothing but the black wallsof ice on either side and the roar of waters below. I thought of thisas I prepared myself for being broken on the cruel rocks beneath: agreat deal to think, herrs, in so short a time, but thoughts comequickly when one is falling. Then I was plunged suddenly into deep,roaring water, and felt myself swept round and then onward as if I hadbeen once more in the schlucht; for I had fallen into one of the greatwater holes in the river below the gletscher, and then was carriedalong."
"How horrible!" ejaculated Saxe. "Was it very dark?"
"So black that a man might do without eyes, herr," said Melchior,smiling sadly.
"You could not swim in water like that!"
"No, herr; and it was so cold that it deadened a man's strength. But Iknew I must fight for my life, for I said to myself I had my two Englishherrs above there on the gletscher, and how could they find their wayback from the wilderness of ice? Then I thought of how the little rivermust run, and I could tell--for I knew it must be very much like theplaces where I have looked up from the end of gletschers (glaciers youcall them)--that there would be deep holes worn in the rock where greatstones are always whirling round and grinding the hollows deeper. Thesewould be hard to pass; but I hoped by clinging to the side to get bythem without being drowned. They were not what I feared."
"Then what did you fear!" cried Saxe excitedly; for the guide hadpaused.
"The narrow pieces, where the water touched the roof, herr. I knew itwas far down to the foot of the glacier, and that there must be manylong hollows where the water rushed through as in a great pipe; and ifthey were too long, I felt that I could never get my breath again, butthat I should be thrown out at the bottom dead."
Dale drew a long, deep breath, and asked himself whether he wasjustified in exposing a man to such risks for the sake of making his owndiscoveries.
"Well, herrs, I knew that if I stopped I should get benumbed and unableto struggle on, so I began feeling my way along the narrow shore of thelittle river, now touching stone, now ice, till the shore seemed to end.As I felt about I found the ice arch lower, and that I must begin towade."
"But why didn't you try and wade back to the bottom of the crevassewhere you fell?" cried Saxe.
"I did, herr; but it was impossible to face the water. It rushed downso fiercely that, as it grew deeper and from wading knee deep I wasgoing along with the water at my waist, I had to cling sometimes to theice above my head to keep from being swept away."
Saxe drew a long breath.
"I went on, herr, cheered by the knowledge that every step I took wasone nearer to liberty; and now, though the water was all melted ice, Idid not feel so cold, till suddenly my feet slipped away from under me,and I felt as if something had given me a heavy push in the back. ThenI was under the water, and found that I was gliding round and round. Idon't know how many times, for it was like being in a dream, till I wasonce more where the water swept me down under the ice arch.
"There, I can tell you little more, except that it was all wildconfusion, that the roar of the water seemed to crash against my earstill I was once more in a shallow place; and as I struggled to get mybreath, I came to what seemed to be a bar, panting heavily till I couldturn a little, and I found that the bar to which I clung was the handleof my ice-axe lying across two masses of stone, between which the watersroared.
"I felt that I could go no farther, and that if I attempted to passthrough that narrow gateway of stone it would be to my death, so Iforced myself sidewise till I found myself free from so much pressure,and, stretching out my ice-axe, I felt about till I could hook it on toice or stone; and as I drew myself along by the handle the water grewless deep, then shallower still; and as I made my way it was over stonesamong which water ran, and I felt about with my axe, puzzled, for it wasso strange. There was the water running over my feet, but gently, andthe rushing river a little way behind. What did it mean? why was it so?Those were the questions I asked myself till the light came."
"Ah! it began to get light?" cried Saxe.
"In my brain, herr," said Melchior, smiling; "and I knew that this was alittle side stream coming down some crack beneath the ice, one of themany that help to make the other big.
"As soon as I understood this I stopped, for I knew that the opening tothese rivers would grow smaller and
smaller, and that it would be of nouse to go up there if I wanted to escape. So, wading along, I tried toreach the wall, to lean against it and rest before going back to thetorrent, knowing as I did that this must be the only way.
"I must have taken a dozen steps before my ice-axe checked against theice, and I threw myself against it, trying to calm my burning head byresting it against what I took to be the arch of the large ice-cave intowhich I had found my way; but, instead of the wall leaning over towardme, as it would in a rugged arch, it sloped away. I did not notice thismuch as I leaned forward, for the ice felt delightfully cool against myburning head; and as the coldness went in farther and farther, I seemedto be able to think better and clearer, and this set me trying aboutwith the axe, till I found that I was at the bottom of a great iceslope, as it seemed to me; and as I raised my head and gazed upward myheart gave a great throb, for there, high up, far away, was a gleam oflight, and at the sight of that strength came to me, and I grasped myaxe tightly, for that meant escape from that terrible place, and life.
"I was quite cool then, and I knew that I must be at the bottom of somecrevasse. I knew, too, that the ice sloped away from me, therefore itwould most likely do so all the way up; so I had only to climb to thesurface of the gletscher and walk away."
"I'm beginning to understand now," said Saxe. "An ice slope is not avery serious thing to a guide who has worked upon the mountains eversince he was a boy, herrs. Feeling satisfied now that I had but to cutmy way up step by step, I grew more easy in my mind, glanced up, andthen, after a little feeling about in the darkness, I chipped my firststep, just enough for my toe to hold in, rose up and cut another."
"In the dark? How did you know where to hit?" cried Saxe. "I could cutsteps in the ice blindfold, herr," said Melchior sharply. "When thehands and arms have grown used to doing a thing, they can do it even ifthe eyes are not watching them. Of course I do not say I always struckexactly in the right place, but I could get sufficiently near to make anotch in the smooth ice; and I kept on, with my heart growing lighter asI chipped away, listening to the echoing of the blows and the hissingsound of the bits of ice as they slipped down the smooth face--for itwas perfectly smooth, and as if polished.
"Step by step I cut my way. It was slow, tiring work; but every notchmade was a step nearer to liberty, and I worked on. As I climbed higherI had to cut my notches deeper, for the slope was not quite so easy, andthe slightest slip would have sent me to the bottom; and from the heightto which I had at last climbed this might have meant a broken arm orleg, for there was no water to fall into but a few inches tricklingamong the stones.
"And so I cut on and on, herrs, till, as I looked up far above me, Icould see the gleam of the sun, and hope grew stronger and sent strengthinto my arms as I swung my axe.
"Higher and higher, always getting up by making a notch for each foot,till my arms began to grow heavy as lead. But still I worked on, everystep cut bringing me nearer to the surface, though at the end of eachhour's hard labour I seemed very little advanced; and at last, as I grewmore weary, my spirits began to sink again, for the slope grew more andmore steep, though I would not own to it myself. Still it was steeperand steeper, and I cut desperately, and made deep notches into which Iforced my feet, while I cut again till the last part was nearlyperpendicular; and after cutting my last step I felt that my task wasdone, for I had reached a ledge over which I was able to climb, till Icould lie half upon it, knowing that I had come to where the wall wentstraight up, and that it would be impossible to hold on to that slipperyice and cut my way higher.
"Still, I would not give up, herrs; but reached up and cut till I feltthat I was gliding off the narrow ledge, and then I had to rest, and usemy axe to cut notches for my feet to hold and others for my hands, forthe least slip would have sent me down like a stone in a couloir, and Iwanted rest before I had to get down again. I asked myself if I could;and a cold feeling came over me, as I thought that all this work hadbeen for nothing, and that the end had now really come.
"And then I took my axe again as it lay beside me, and began cutting ina madly foolish kind of way. There was no use in it. I could not helpmyself by cutting; but I could hear the lumps of ice hissing down, andit made me think, so that the work did me good. More, it did othergood, for, as I have thought over it since, it has made me try to prayas a man should pray who has been delivered from a terrible fall. Forthose last blows of my axe must have been the ones which you heard, HerrSaxe--the blows which brought you to my help just when my arms wereready to sink to my side, and I had fully determined in my own mind thatI could never get down from the ledge to the little river alive."
"How deep was it, Melk?" cried Saxe excitedly.
The guide shook his head.
"You know the rest, gentlemen. You came and saved my life just when Ihad not sufficient strength left to have tied the rope safely about mywaist. It was the noose which saved me, and I could not believe in thatsafety till you dragged me over the side of the crevasse. Herr Dale--Herr Saxe, how am I to say words to show you how thankful I am?"
"Do not try," said Dale quietly. "Come, Saxe boy, you have let yourcoffee grow cold."
"Yes," said Saxe; "but it has made my head hot. I don't feel as if Iwant any breakfast now."
"Nonsense: you must eat, for we have a long journey back to the chalet."
"To the chalet, herr? You do not want to go round by the chalet?"
"Indeed, but I do. You will want a fortnight's rest after thisadventure."
The guide stared at him in astonishment.
"A fortnight's rest!" he echoed; "and with weather like this! Oh, herr,it would be madness: I want no rest."
"Why, you do not mean to say that you feel equal to going on?"
"Oh yes, herr. I am a little stiff and tired this morning, but thatwill be all gone by to-morrow; and I meant to take you up to a crystalcave to-day."
Saxe looked at Dale's wondering face, and then burst into a heartylaugh.
"It is of no use to dwell upon troubles gone by, herr," said Melchior."I shall get well quicker here than down at the chalet. How soon willyou be ready to start?"
The Crystal Hunters: A Boy's Adventures in the Higher Alps Page 25