The Crystal Hunters Part 24

"An hour and five minutes, Melchior," he said. "And good work, sir.

That was a very stiff climb. What are you thinking, young herr?"

"Of how terribly steep the mountain seems from up here," replied Saxe, who was holding by a piece of granite and gazing down.

"No more steep than it was coming up, lad," cried Dale. "Now, Melchior!

what next?"

"Right across this snow, sir. It is perfectly safe; and then we can take the slope above there, and we are on the shoulder. Then, as we arranged, we'll take to the rock or the snow again, whichever seems best."

"Ready, Saxe?"

"Yes," said the boy shortly; and for the next hour they tramped over snow like hailstones, and then zigzagged up a slope beyond it, where in the steepest places a little cutting became necessary; but this was all mastered in time, and the shoulder was reached, from which half a mile away the final peak arose--a blunt hillock with perfectly smooth snow on one side, bare rock, broken and rugged, on the other, while the snow at the top seemed to have been cut clean off perpendicularly.

Half an hour's rugged walk brought them to a point where they had to decide whether to turn north and climb the snow, or south and take to the bare steep rock.

"What do you say, Melchior?" said Dale, giving the guide a meaning look at the same time.

"The snow is too steep, and it looks dangerous there. It is now well on in the afternoon, and our weight might start it; and if it did--you know."

"What!" said Saxe excitedly. Dale was silent for a few moments.

"I do not want to scare you, lad, but you have to learn these things.

If we started the snow at that angle, it would all go down with a rush into the nearest valley."

"And what would become of us!"

Neither of the men answered; but Saxe knew.

"That is going to be a stiff climb, Melchior," said Dale, after a few minutes' searching the place with his eyes.

"I dare say it will be, sir," replied the guide. "Are you ready?"

"Yes."

They started again, taking to the rocky face where the steepness kept the snow from hanging. The sun was now shining full upon them, adding its heat to that produced by the exertion. The advance was slow and tentative for some time, resulting in several failures; and so painfully steep had the place become that Dale twice, to Saxe's great relief, suggested that it would be better to give it up, and the guide seemed to be unwillingly about to agree, when all at once a narrow rift opened out before them.

"We're at the top, herr," he cried joyfully; and, stepping out, he stopped in the furrow carved in the mountain's side, and prepared to climb.

"Can you get up there?" said Saxe, wiping his streaming face and gazing skyward.

"Yes, herr, and you can too. Once up there, the rest will be easy."

Dale looked doubtful, but he said nothing--only stood watching while Melchior crept right into the narrowest part and began to ascend, taking advantage of every crack and prominence, rising higher and higher without a moment's hesitation, though so narrow was their standing-place, that unless Dale and Saxe could stop him in case of a slip, the unfortunate man would glance off and shoot into s.p.a.ce.

Melchior was still climbing on when this idea struck Dale, who turned sharply to his young companion.

"Why are you staring down there!" he said, as he noticed that Saxe had turned from watching the guide and was looking down the tremendous series of precipices stretching step-like from where he stood to the valley southward.

"I was thinking how deep it is."

"Think of how far it is to the top, and let the rest take care of itself. Here," he whispered, "stand close in with me. If he slips we must stop him somehow. Well," he cried aloud, "can you manage it?"

"Oh yes, herr; and so will you," cried Melchior. "It is not so very hard. This rift seems as if made on purpose."

The task looked very laborious all the same. But the man's climbing skill was wonderful; nothing seemed to daunt him, and at the end of a few minutes there came a triumphant jodel from the invisible spot to which he had made his way.

Directly after the rope fell in rings from above.

"Let the young herr fasten it round him before he begins to climb,"

cried Melchior; and he was obeyed.

"You will never climb that, Saxe," said Dale. "It was a hard task for him."

"But I must try," said the boy huskily; and he started at once, desperately and in haste.

"Bravo! one does not know what one can do till one tries," cried Dale.

For with the rope always kept taut to help him and give him confidence, Saxe climbed on, his nerves in such a state of exaltation that he forgot how dizzy it had made him feel to see Melchior mount, but at the same time remembered almost exactly how he had planted his feet in the critical places.

This went on till he was three parts of the way up, where a projecting rock overhead had to be pa.s.sed; and the boy now felt, as he rested for a few moments, that if he slipped there or failed to cling sufficiently tightly, he must fall to the broad shelf where Dale was standing, and rebound into the awful depths below.

In fancy he saw himself bounding from place to place, always gathering speed, till he lay a shapeless ma.s.s among the stones of the valley; and, in spite of himself, he turned his head and looked down.

The view was so appalling, as he clung there, that a low hoa.r.s.e sigh escaped him; his nerves tingled; a curious sensation ran up his spine, and as he wrenched his head away from the sight which fascinated him, he closed his eyes.

A tug at the rope roused him, and brought him back to himself, just as Dale was pressing forward into the gash in the rock, ready to seize him as he fell.

"Come, herr," Melchior shouted, from his invisible resting-place. "Are you at that bit of sticking-out rock? Come along: it's very easy."

Saxe raised his arms, which had felt nerveless the moment before, took a fresh hold, and began to climb desperately. The first movements were horrible, and he felt the creeping sensation of horror once more, and stopped, clinging hard, thinking that he could do no more; but the rope was against his face, and as it vibrated he knew that even if he slipped it would hold him, and the cold, dank sensation pa.s.sed away again as he got a good foothold and was helped by the strain on the rope; and just while he was saying to himself, "I shall never do it--I shall never do it!" a great hand seized the rope round his chest, and he was drawn right on to a rocky platform, where Melchior was seated with his legs widely apart, and his heels against two projecting corners.

"Well done, herr!" cried the guide, laughing, as he proceeded to untie the rope: "you and I will do some of the big peaks yet."

Saxe said nothing, but seated himself twenty feet farther up the rock, with his heels planted in the same way as the guide's, and letting the rope pa.s.s through his hands as it was gathered into rings.

"Ready, herr!" shouted Melchior.

"Yes," came from below; and the rope was thrown over the edge.

"Make it fast round your waist, herr," cried Melchior; and then, turning to Saxe, he said, with a smile meant to inspire confidence, "We can pull him up if he likes."

"Now!" came from below.

"Ready," shouted the guide; and then to Saxe--"Pull as I pull, herr, steady and strong, always keeping a tight grip, in case of a slip. It gives him confidence."

Saxe nodded; the rope was kept tight, and drawn in foot by foot, till, just as the lad was thinking of what a tremendous jerk it would be if Dale slipped, the latter's head appeared above the rock, with his ice-axe projecting over his shoulder, it having worked up in the climbing till it threatened to escape from the belt and fall.

"Take a good grip of the rope with one hand, herr," said Melchior quietly: "we have you. Now get hold of your ice-axe and push it on before you."