Chapter 19. A Strange Incident

________________________________________________
_ CHAPTER NINETEEN. A STRANGE INCIDENT

It was very dark and cold, the stars gleamed frostily overhead, and the nearest mountain peak stood out weird-looking and strange against the purple sky, as the little party stood together listening, and then questioning each other in an awe-stricken whisper.

"You heard it, Saxe?" said Dale.

"Heard it? Yes, it was horrible. What was it, Melchior?"

The guide shook his head, and then took up his ice-axe for a protection against whatever the object might be that had alarmed them, as he began to peer cautiously in all directions.

"It woke me up with a start," whispered Saxe.

"Yes; the most unearthly cry I ever heard. It must have been some kind of owl, and its shriek sounded the more terrible from being up in this land of echoes."

"Then if it was a bird there is nothing to be afraid of," said Saxe. "It gave me the shivers."

"It was startling. Found anything, Melchior?"

"No, herr; and I'm puzzled."

"We think it was a bird."

"No, herr; that was no bird."

"Could it have been an animal?"

"There are no animals up at this height, but chamois and marmots. They could not have made such a cry."

"No," said Dale thoughtfully.

"Stop!" said the guide, as if he had caught at an idea; "could it have been a bear?"

"No-o-o!" cried Saxe. "It was a shriek, not a growl."

"You are right, herr," said the guide. "Bears are very scarce now, and I do not think one of them could make such a noise unless he were being killed. This is another mystery of the mountains that I cannot explain. Some guides would say it was the mountain spirit."

"But you do not, Melchior?"

"No, herr; I believe now that all these old stories ate fables. Shall we lie down again to rest?"

"I want to rest," said Dale; "but it seems impossible to lie down expecting to be roused up by such an unearthly cry."

"Then the English herr thinks it was unearthly?"

"Oh, I don't mean that," said Dale hastily. "The mountains are full of awful things, but not of that kind. Well, Saxe, shall we lie down?"

"What's the good?" replied the boy: "we couldn't go to sleep if we did. I say, isn't it cold?"

"Get one of the rugs to put round you."

"Shall we have a good look round, first, herr?"

"No, don't," said Saxe. "It is so dark, and there are so many stones about. Yes, let's go," he added suddenly, as the thought flashed across his brain that if he declined his companions would think him cowardly.

Just at that moment, from out of the darkness, about fifty yards away, the cry rose again, but short and sudden, like a bit of the fag end of the shriek which had roused them from their sleep.

"There!" cried Saxe.

"Yes, herr--there!" said the guide, and he began to laugh silently. "Why, it quite startled me. I ought to have known."

"What was it?" cried Dale, as the curious wild cry seemed still to be ringing in his ears.

"What was it, herr? Don't you know?"

"Of course not."

"It was Gros."

"The old mule?" cried Saxe. "Oh, I wish I was close by him with a stick."

"I suppose he feels the cold. No, stop: it can't be that," added the guide, as if suddenly struck by an idea. "There must be a reason for his crying out."

He walked away hurriedly into the darkness, and they followed, to hear him talking directly after to the mule, which responded with a low whinnying sound.

"Perhaps the poor brute has slipped into a hole or a crack in the rock," suggested Dale; but as they drew nigh they could see the mule standing out dimly in the darkness, and the guide close by his neck.

"Have we overdriven him?" said Saxe. "Is he ill?"

"You couldn't overdrive Gros, herr," said Melchior quietly.

"Why not?"

"You heard what old Andregg said to us, Gros would not be overdriven, herr; he would lie down when he had done as much work as he felt was enough."

"What's the matter, then? Is he ill?"

"No, herr; his coat is smooth and dry."

"I know," cried Saxe.

"You know, herr?"

"Yes; of course, he has been trying to find enough to eat amongst these stones, and there is scarcely anything. He is hungry, and crying out for supper."

"Oh no, herr. I showed him where he could find plenty of green shoots, and I gave him half a loaf of black bread as well before we had our meal."

"Then he wants kicking for waking us up like this."

"No, herr," said the guide drily; "and it is bad work to kick Gros. He is a very clever animal, and can kick much harder than a man. I remember Pierre kicking him once, and he kicked back and nearly broke the man's leg."

"Then don't kick him. But what is the matter with him?"

"I cannot tell you, herr, unless some one has been here since we lay down to sleep."

"But, surely, Melchior, if any one came he would have seen the tent and spoken."

"Yes, herr, one would think so, for out in the mountains here we are all friends. We should have given him to eat and drink just as we should have expected it if we came upon a camp."

"Well," said Dale, "it was a false alarm, and I'm going to lie down again. Come, Saxe."

"But suppose--"

"No, no; we have so much hard work to do to-morrow that we want all the rest we can get. There is nothing to suppose, is there, Melchior?"

"Oh no, herr; and besides, if the herr likes, I will sit up and watch."

"There is no need. Come: sleep."

"I can't sleep," thought Saxe, as he lay down once more in the shelter of the tent. "I shall be listening, and expecting to hear that cry again."

But his head had hardly touched the rug before he was breathing heavily; and he slept without moving till a hand was laid upon his shoulder; and as he opened his eyes he saw that it was daybreak and that the dark figure bending over him was the guide.

"Time to get up?"

"Yes, herr--quick!" was the reply. "Will you wake up the herr?"

"Eh? Yes: all right, Melchior," cried Dale. "Hah! what a splendid sleep! It does not seem five minutes since I lay down."

"Will you come out, sir?" said the guide, in rather a peculiar manner.

"Yes, of course. Eh? Is anything the matter?"

"I don't quite know, herr," replied the guide, as they stood together; "but it is clear some one has been here in the night."

"Then that is what frightened the mule?"

"Yes, herr; that is what made him cry out. Look!"

"What at?" said Dale quietly, as they now stood beside the ashes of the last night's fire.

"Cannot the herr see?"

Dale looked sharply round, and Saxe followed his example.

"I see nothing," said the former.

"Nor I," said Saxe; "only that the bits of burnt wood seem to have been kicked about."

"That's it, herr," cried Melchior; "and look there!"

He bent down, and pointed.

"Ah! look, Saxe!" cried Dale: "some one's footmark in the pine ash!"

"'Tisn't mine," said Saxe: "it's too big."

"Nor mine," said Dale. "An English boot does not leave a print like that. It's yours, Melchior. A false alarm."

"No, herr--no false alarm," said the guide; and he raised one foot so as to expose the sole. "Look at the open way in which I nail my boots-- with big nails, so that they shall not slip on the rock or ice. That footprint is not mine."

"No: you are right. Then whose could it be?"

Melchior shook his head.

"Some one must have been prowling round the tent in the night."

"It must have been one of Melk's spirits--the one who threw stones at us yesterday. I say, Melk, they wear very big boots."

The guide smiled.

"Yes, herr, it was some one with big boots; and I do not understand it."

Dale's first idea--a natural one under the circumstances--was that plunder was the object; and he said so.

"No, herr; I do not think there is anybody about here who would steal."

"I'm very glad to hear it," said Dale: "but let's see if anything has gone."

The guide said nothing--only looked on while an examination was made.

"No," said Dale; "I do not miss anything. Yes: my little binocular is missing!"

"No, herr; you put it inside the big basket last night."

"Yes, here it is," cried Saxe.

"Then you are right, Melchior: it could not have been robbery."

"No, herr, it is strange; but I will light the fire and get breakfast."

As he spoke he began kindling some dry stuff he had collected, and shortly after the coffee-pot was promising to boil. Then some bacon was sliced and frizzled, and the appetising odour soon made the memories of the night alarm pass away in the thoughts of the excellent breakfast, which was finished while the pass in which they were seated was still grey, though the mountain peaks looked red-hot in the coming sunshine.

"Well, I'm not going to let an incident like that interfere with our progress, Melchior. Where do you propose going next?"

"Up whichever thal the herr chooses, and then up the mountain."

"And not quite over the pass?"

"No, herr. We are in the highest part here, and we may come upon crystals in any of these solitary peaks."

"Very well; then we'll make a start at any time you like. Do we come back here?"

"No, herr. I propose that we take the mule on to the foot of the Great Oberweiss glacier, an hour from here. There is good camping ground, and then we will go up the mountain by the side of the ice meer."

"And to shake off our stone-throwing friend," said Dale. "Good. We will, and will keep a better look-out for the crevasses this time--eh, Saxe?"

"Yes, and we can try the new rope."

A few minutes sufficed for saddling up the mule with his load, and then they started once more farther into the wilds, in all the glorious beauty of the early summer morning, Melchior leading them in and out through such a labyrinth of cracks and rifts that after some hours' walking, Saxe glanced at his leader.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering how we could find our way back."

Melchior laughed.

"Oh, easily enough, herr."

"But I couldn't," cried Saxe.

"No, herr. That shows the use of a guide. But I could have come an easier way, only I am taking a short cut. We are a thousand feet higher than when we started. Look, herr: go on by that shelf of rock: it is perfectly safe. Then come back and tell me what you see."

Saxe started forward, from the ragged slope they were ascending; and a minute or two after passing quite a mossy niche, which ran some forty or fifty yards right into the mountain, to where a silvery-veil-like cascade fell, he stopped short, threw up his hands, and then turned and signalled to Dale.

"What is it?" cried the latter, as he hurried to the boy's side. "Hah!"

He wanted no explanation, for they were standing at the edge of a precipice, gazing down at another huge glacier, which glittered in the rays of the morning sun--a vast chaos of ice whose cracks and shadows were of a vivid blue; and as they gazed up towards the point where it suddenly curved round an immense buttress, there beyond, peak after peak, as far as eye could reach, stood out in the clear air, and all seeming to rise out of the fields and beds of snow which clung around them and filled every ravine and chasm running up from their feet.

"Oh!" cried Saxe--"did you ever see anything so beautiful? Why, the place is all crystals!"

"Grand!" said Dale slowly, as he stood rapt in a reverie of wonder and admiration at the scene before him. "Why, Saxe, we couldn't have had a better guide! We must make a halt here, and begin to explore."

"But you'll go up another mountain?"

"Didn't you have enough of the last?"

"No!" cried the boy excitedly. "I know I was very stupid and clumsy, and wasn't half so brave as I should have liked to be; but I long to begin again."

"Then you shall."

"When? Now?"

"Too late in the day. We'll explore about here first, and if the weather is right we'll make a start to-morrow."

"Oh!" said Saxe in a disappointed tone.

"There--you'll have plenty of work to-day, for we must go down on this wonderful glacier and examine the sides. Look! there's what they call a mill there."

"A mill? I don't see it."

"Moulin. No, no--not a building. That fall, where the water rushes into the crevasse you can see. There--up yonder, a quarter of a mile away."

At that moment there was a tremendous crash on their left; and, as they turned sharply, it was to see from far below them what appeared to be a cloud of smoke rising and wreathing round, full of tiny specks of silver, and over which an iris glimmered for a few moments, and faded away with the ice dust caused by the toppling over of a huge serac, which had crushed half a dozen others in its fall.

"Come along. Let's arrange about our camp; and then we'll take hammers and a chisel, and begin to examine the side of this glacier at once."

They turned back. Saxe quitting the glorious view of the crystal silver land, as he mentally dubbed it, very unwillingly.

To his surprise, as they descended they found Gros on his back, in a gully full of sand and stones, snorting, flapping his ears and throwing up his legs, as he fell over first on one side, then on the other, in the full enjoyment of a good roll; while as they advanced it was to find Melchior in the sheltered nook setting up the tent, after rolling some huge pieces of rock to the four corners ready to secure the ropes; for there was no spot in that stony ravine where a peg of iron, let alone one of wood, could be driven in.

"Hah! a capital spot, Melchior."

"Yes, herr, well sheltered from three winds, and there is plenty of good water; but we shall have to be sparing with the wood. To-morrow I'll take Gros, and go down to the nearest pine forest and bring up a load."

"Then you mean to stay here?"

"For a few days, herr. You have peaks all round which you can climb. There is the glacier, and there are bare mountain precipices and crevices where you may find that of which you are in search."

"Yes," said Dale, as he looked back out of the narrow opening of the gash in the mountain which the guide had chosen for their shelter; "I think this place will do."

"Then the herr is satisfied?"

"Well, yes, for the present. Now, then, leave what you are doing, and we'll descend to the glacier at once."

"Yes, herr. One moment. I'll hang up the lanthorn and the new English rope here. The glass may be kicked against and broken."

He suspended the English-made stout glass lanthorn to the little ridge-pole; and then, resuming his jacket, he threw the coil of rope over his shoulder, took his ice-axe, Dale and Saxe taking theirs, all new and bright, almost as they had left the manufacturer's, and started at once for the shelf from which the grand view of the snow-clad mountains had met their gaze. After proceeding along this a short distance, Melchior stopped, climbed out upon a projecting point, and examined the side of the precipice.

"We can get down here, herr," he said; and, setting the example, he descended nimbly from ledge to ledge, pausing at any difficult place to lend a hand or point out foothold, till they were half-way down, when the ledges and crevices by which they had descended suddenly ceased, and they stood upon a shelf from which there seemed to be no further progression, till, as if guided by the formation, Melchior crept to the very end, peered round an angle of the rock, and then came back.

"No," he said--"not that way: the other end."

He passed his two companions, and, going to the farther part, climbed up a few feet, and then passed out of their sight.

"This way, gentlemen!" he shouted; and upon joining him they found that he had hit upon quite an easy descent to the ice.

This proved to be very different to the glacier they had first examined. It was far more precipitous in its descent, with the consequence that it was greatly broken up into blocks, needles and overhanging seracs. These were so eaten away beneath that it seemed as if a breath would send them thundering down.

"Not very safe--eh, Melchior?" said Dale.

"No, herr; we must not venture far from the edge."

This vast glacier had also shrunk, leaving from ten to twenty feet of smoothly polished rock at the side--that is, at the foot of the precipitous gorge down which it ran--and thus forming a comparatively easy path for the travellers, who climbed upwards over the rounded masses, stopping from time to time where the ice curved over, leaving spaces between it and its rocky bed, down which Saxe gazed into a deep blue dimness, and listened to the murmuring roar of many waters coursing along beneath.

Suddenly Dale uttered an ejaculation, and, taking a hammer from his belt, began to climb up the rocky side of the valley.

Melchior saw the place for which he was making, and uttered a grunt indicative of satisfaction.

The spot beneath which Dale stopped was only a dark-looking crack; but as Saxe went nearer he could see that it was edged with dark-coloured crystals set closely together, and resembling in size and shape the teeth of a small saw.

Dale began to probe the crack directly with the handle of his ice-axe, to find that the crevice gradually widened; and on applying his mouth there and shouting, he could feel that it was a great opening.

"There ought to be big crystals in there, Melchior," cried Dale excitedly.

"Yes, herr; but without you brought powder and blasting tools you could not get at them, and if you did blast you would break them up."

Dale said nothing, but laying down his ice-axe he took hammer and chisel and began to chip energetically at the hard rock, while the others looked on till he ceased hammering, with a gesture full of impatience.

"You are right, Melchior," he said; "I shall never widen it like this."

"Why try, herr? I can show you holes already large enough for us to get in."

"You know for certain of such places?"

"I cannot tell you exactly where they are now, but I have seen them in the mountains!"

"In the mountains?"

"Well, then, right in these mountains, I feel sure. Let us go on and try. If we do not find a better place we know where this is, and can try it another time."

"Go on, then," said Dale, rather reluctantly; and they continued climbing, with the rock towering up on one side, the ice curving over on the other, and rising in the middle of the glacier to a series of crags and waves and smooth patches full of cracks, in which lay blocks of granite or limestone that had been tumbled down from the sides or far up toward the head of the valley ages before.

They had not progressed far before the guide pointed out another crack in the rock fringed with gem-like crystals, and then another and another, but all out of reach without chipping steps in the stone--of course a most arduous task.

"All signs that we are in the right formation, Saxe," said Dale more hopefully, after they had toiled on up the side of the glacier for about a couple of hours; and they stood watching Melchior, who had mounted on to the ice to see if he could find better travelling for them.

"Yes," he shouted--"better here;" and the others climbed up and joined him, to find that the surface was much smoother, and that the broken-up masses of ice were far less frequent.

"Plenty of crevasses, herr," said Melchior; "but they are all to be seen. There is no snow to bridge them over."

He stood looking down one of the blue cracks zigzagged across the glacier, and Saxe could not help a shudder as he gazed down into its blue depths and listened to the roar of water which came up from below.

But it was not more than a yard in width, and in turn they leaped across and continued their way.

Then they had to pass another, half the width, and others that were mere fissures, which Dale said were slowly splitting; but soon after stepping across the last of these, further progress over the ice was barred by a great chasm four or five yards from edge to edge, along which they had to skirt till its end could be turned and their journey continued.

"Can we take to the rocks again?" said Dale, looking anxiously toward the almost perpendicular sides of the valley up which they slowly made their way.

"Not yet, herr: I have been watching, and we are still only passing mere crevices in the rock. Hah! now we are coming to the enow, and shall have to take care."

He pointed with his ice-axe to where, a hundred yards or so farther on, the surface of the ice suddenly changed; but they did not pass at once on to the snow, for as they neared it they found that they were parted from it by another crevasse of about four feet wide.

"We need not go round this, I suppose," said Dale, as he stood peering down into its depths--Saxe following his example, and listening to a peculiar hissing rush of water far below.

"No, herr, the leap is so short. Shall I go first?"

"Oh no," said Dale, stepping back and then jumping lightly across, to alight on the snow; "beautiful landing, Saxe. Take a bit of a run."

"Yes," said the boy; and he stepped back also for a few yards, sprang and cleared the gap with a yard or so to spare. "What a place it would be to fall down, though!" said Saxe, as he began to tramp on over the snow by Dale's side. "I couldn't help thinking so as I flew over it."

"And very stupid of you too! There's no danger in leaping over a dry ditch four feet wide, so why should you make a fuss about the same distance because it is deep?"

Boom!

"Hallo!" said Dale. "That sounded like snow somewhere up in the mountains; and by the way, we're on snow now: Melchior ought to rope us. How do we know there are not crevasses close at hand?" He turned to speak to the guide, and found Saxe standing there staring back. "Hallo!" he cried, "where's Melchior?"

"I don't know," faltered Saxe.

"Didn't you see him jump over the crack?"

"No. Didn't you?"

"It was such a trifle, I did not think of it. Good heavens! he has not met with an accident? Ah, that noise!"

They turned back together for about a hundred yards over the smooth snow, following their own steps clearly marked in the white surface; and then stopped short aghast, for the deeply indented place in the snow where they had landed in their jump was gone, and in its stead they saw a great triangular-shaped opening widening the crevasse to more than double its original dimensions, while just at its edge close to their feet there was a peculiar mark, such as would have been made by an ice-axe suddenly struck down through the snow to plough its way till it disappeared over the edge. _

Read next: Chapter 20. A Fearful Watch

Read previous: Chapter 18. Saxe Has Suspicions

Table of content of Crystal Hunters: A Boy's Adventures in the Higher Alps


GO TO TOP OF SCREEN

Post your review
Your review will be placed after the table of content of this book