Part 15 (1/2)

As their fored the carcass of the deer up to the hot spring; that being a better situation

There the animal was skinned, a fire kindled, and after they had dined upon fresh venison-steaks, the rest of the ,--just as he had done that of the yak,--but in this case he took the precaution to hang it out of reach of all four-footed marauders

So careful were they of the flesh of the deer, that even the bones were safely stoay, and Fritz had totheir terrible situation, Karl had not abandoned one of the national characteristics of his countryular valley How long he did not think of asking himself; perhaps for life He anticipated the straits in which they ht fail them; and on this account every ht ca food; of the aniht exist in the valley; of their numbers and kinds,--they had observed several kinds; of the birds upon the lake and a the trees; of the fruits and berries; of the roots that ht be found there from which they could draw sustenance

They examined their stock of auine hopes Both Caspar's large powder-horn and that of his brother were nearly full They had used their guns but little since last filling their horns They had also a good store of shot and bullets; though these things were less essential, and in case of their running short of theunpowder is the _sine qua non_ of the hunter

Even had their guns failed the bow of Ossaroo, and it was independent of either powder or lead A thin reed, or the slender branch of a tree, were nearly all that Ossaroo required to make as deadly a shaft as need be hurled

They ithout anxiety, on the score of being able to kill such animals as the place afforded Even had they been without arrows, they felt confident that in such a circumscribed space they would have been able to circuame They had no uneasiness about any four-footed creatureits escape from the valley any more than themselves There could be no other outlet than that by which they had entered By the ravine only could the four-footed denizens of the place have gone out and in; and on the glacier they had observed a beaten path made by the tracks of anih the pass ell-known to many kinds, and likely also there were others that stayed continually in the valley, and there brought forth their young Indeed, it would have been difficult for a wild animal to have found a more desirable hoht have held this very opinion, and from what they had already observed, they had reason to think so

Of course they had not yet abandoned the hope of being able to find soular prison No, it was too early for that Had they arrived at such a conviction, they would have been in poor heart indeed, and in noas they did The birds and the quadrupeds, and the fruits and roots, would have had but little interest for the idea as that in theirwhy; and in this uncertainty they went to rest with the resolve to give the cliffs a fresh examination on the morrow

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

MEASURING THE CREVassE

Again, on the morrow, every foot of the precipitous bluffs was minutely scanned and examined The circuit of the valley was made as before

Even trees were climbed in order the better to view the face of the cliffs that soared far above their tops The result was a full conviction, that to scale the precipice at any point was an utter impossibility

Until fully convinced of this, they had not thought of going back through the gap that led to the glacier; but now that all hopes of succeeding elsewhere had vanished from their minds, they proceeded in that direction

They did not walk towards it with the light brisk step of men who had hopes of success; but ratherto a sort of involuntary impulse As yet they had not examined the ice-chaslacier slide, they had retreated frolance at the crevasse was all they had given; but in that glance they had perceived the i it At the time, however, they were not aware of the resources that were so near They were not aware that within less than five hundred yards of the spot grew a forest of tall trees Indeed, it was not until they had fully reconnoitred the cliffs, and turned away fro occurred to thathe portals of that singular passage, the thought seemed for the first tiive expression to it Suddenly halting, he pointed back to the forest, and said,--

”If we could bridge it!”

Neither of his co Both were at that ht They kneas the crevasse

”Those pine-trees are tall,” said Caspar

”Not tall enough, Sahib,” rejoined the shi+karree

”We can splice them,” continued Caspar

Ossaroo shook his head, but said nothing in reply

The idea, however, had begotten new hopes; and all three walked down the ravine with brisker steps They scanned the cliffs on either side as they advanced, but these they had exa with caution they approached the edge of the crevasse They looked across A hundred feet wide--perhaps ulf They knelt down and gazed into the chasm It opened far away into the earth--hundreds of feet belohere they knelt

It narrowed towards the bottoreener and darker as they converged towards each other They could see huge boulders of rock and ed between the of water A torrent ran there--no doubt the superfluous waters of the lake escaping by this subglacial streah the nerves of all were strung to an extreiddy to look into the chass came over them as they listened to the unnatural echoes of their voices To have descended to the bottom would have been a dread peril: but they did not conte would be of no use, even could they have accomplished it Once in the bottom of the chasm the opposite steep would still have to be cliht not of crossing in that way--their only hope lay in the possibility of bridging the crevasse; and to this their whole attention was now turned