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THE SILENT BARRIER
BY LOUIS TRACY
SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAPTERS
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r fairy godfather ai I i Firefly I
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..... through Bow
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CHAPTER X. (Continued;
On the Glacier
Ti I at interval.-,
i twenty feet. Allowing fur the depth of ;h<
crevasse, the amount of rope taken up in th.-ir
hand- ready to l>e served out as occasion required.
a^d the inclination of B irths line of descent, the
latter ought to Ik.- notching the opposing wall before
Stampa quitted the surface of the ■'..,. iei Though
Spenser could not see Stampa i. ■■•■ . he knew that the
rear guide was bracing himself strongly against any
tell-.-.:- jerk, with the additional security of .v.
aach >r obtained by driving the pick of his ax deeply
into the surface ice. It mas Bower's business t.>
keei' the roj>e quite taut I>oth above and below but
the American was sure that he was gathering the
slack :>.-hind him with his right hand while he car
lied the ax in his lefi. and did not use it to steady
himself
Spenser assumed, from various comments by
Helen and others, that Bower was an adept
dimber. Then-fore, the passage of a schrund. or
large, shallow crevasse, was
child's play t<> him. This de
parture from all the canons of
the craft as arted by Stain] >.t
during their hrst week on the
l.uls .gether. struck Spenser as
: xcredingly dangerous. He re
flected that if it had ii"i been for
the words he had overheard, he
crould never have known of this
I jrious proceeding 1 ndeed. but
lir those rds. with their sinis
ter significance augmented by
Bowers devilish expression, had
he even looked back by chance.
the maneuver aught not have
attracted his attention What.
th ■:.. did it imply? Why should
a skilled mountaineer break an
imperative rule that }*-rmits of
no ••■:.-! continued to
wat< h Bower even more closely.
He devoted to the task every
instant that consideration for
Helen's safety and his own would
allow .
There was not much light ir.
the crevasse. Heavy clouds and
mothering snow wraiths hid
the travelers under a dense pall
that suggested the approach of
sigh*., though the actual time
*a* about half-past one in the
afternoon. The wind seemed v>
delight in torturing them with
tr.ir.ute particles of ice that stung
J-'iXh a jx-c uliar s»-nsati< ii of burn-
J?S These were bad enough,
lo a<i<i - theii miseries, fine.
powdery Eaowflakes settled on
tyes and eyelids with blinding
e2eet.
During a particularly baffling
B«t Helen uttered a slight ex
clurnation. Instantly gpenser
V1";^V 1 ";^ h '-'^lf • and Barth and
X ■ halted
. . It is nothing." she cried.
a second I could not see."
gAKIirS ax rang out again
i ny vibrations of each lusty
wo .-. could be felt distincUyalong
th, goKd ice wall After a last
Q^.-n ward step he would begin
tv notch his way up the other
Bde. where the angle was much
ino re f avora!jlc tv rapid iir ess
Spenser stole another glance
°-'-' his loukfer B-mer had
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fully ten feet of the rearmosi
cad was thrown well tanding with his
■ ■
be expecting the ann< >vi tarily
: hat Bartfa was i nj,' the nan
lelen and Karl [jeratioi
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At last. Barth's deep bass reverberated triumph
■ Yoru :<: . Stam] ted Bow< i
. hangii to his ri^ht hand and
■ the rope an
Itai ly he raised I ■
[ not till 1 ■ did Si.<i. ■ •
■ ml of relaxing hi p-ipand
h Bower eul the rope \sith a
the adz, a violent tug at the juddered
!„! would te Stampa headlong into the
crevasse, while there would be ample evidence to
show thai he himself bad severed the rope by a
!■ ulated blow The fall would undoubtedly kill
him When hi ■ overed. it
would be found that th« i ut had !•< en made
much closer to his own '.""ly than to that
of his nearest neighbor.
Stop!" roared Spenser, all a-quiver with
Lh at his d
Obedience to the climl>ers' i .■•■• held the
Spn>er Kudghly Thrust
Bower AstJe and Czrrtcd
Helen I nil the Hall
■ I •
called foi an instai every mv!
the sti I ■
mining .1 fiendish 1
vieMc i • ■ :'■ ■ • ■!. ■ ■ m< e1 't the law an !
kept 1 ■ n his ste]
The Vmeri< an wa fitted to handle
■ Hold fast. Stampa!" he shouted
■ What 1 me the ready cry ; t
htd alread) driven the pick oi his a: 1
in after having withdraw ■ I
■ poke English 1 ha] ; 1
111 he iaid slowly, never relaxing a steel
■ B iwi • livid face " You sei
wrhai you ire d 'ing Follow me until • i>u
taken up th< Iv \i •! the rope. Do j
dei itand ' '
Boy • ■ ntii to gaze at him with lack luster
All he n alized was thai his murderous design
ted; but how or why he neither knew nor
cared.
111 1 nded Spenser even
• Come along, or 1 .^h;ill explain myself
m< •!<• full>
Without answering. th.- other made shift to
Spenser, however, meant to save the un
guide from further hazard
" Don't pa, till I give the order!" he
san^ out
All right, monsieur; but we are lo
What is Barth doing there? Saperlottel It I were
in front — "
Bower, who owned certain strong qualities,
swallowed something, took three strides downward,
and said calmly, 1 was waiting t" give Stampa .1
hand He is lame, you know "
Helen, <>i course, heard all that passed Slu- had
long since abandoned th<- effort t>> disentangle tlk
skein of that day's events Everybody was talking
.1 t • • i acting unnaturally. Maybe the
ravel would clear itself when they
regained the commonplai > world <>f
the hotel In any rase, she wished
the nun would hurr\ ; for it was
unutterably «.< >l< 1 in the crevasse.
A r last . there w..s a movement
•**• ahead Barth began to mount
Muttering an instruction to !<.■:!
that he \\a^ to give the girl a
friendly pull, he cut smaller steps
more widelj apart and at a steeper
gradient Si»ni they were <>n r lk-
Boor "I tin- ice and hurrying to
the next bridge Not .1 word v\ is
spoken by anyone The fi
the gale and the ever-gathering
snow made it imperative that :i'>!
1 moment should be wasted The.
lightning was decreasing percep
tibly, while tlii- occasional peals of
thunder were scarcel) audible
above the soughing ol the wind
A tremendous crash <>n the right
announced the fall <>f another
avalancht . l>ut it did m>
the next broad crevasse The
bridge they had used a ff>\ hours
earlier stood firm Indeed, it was
new welded by regelation since t!u
sun's rays had disappeared
The leader kept a perfect hue,
never deviating from the right
track Helen, who had completely
l<ist herbearings. thought they had
a l«>n^ w:.\ farther t<> go, when
she saw Barth st<>]> and begin u>
unfasten the rope Then a thrusi
with the butt <>t her pickt I told
her that she was standing on rock.
When she cleared her eyes <>f the
rlvniK snow, she saw a well defined
curving ribbon amid the white
It was the path, covered
ax inches deep The violent »\
ertions of nearly three hours since
she left the hut had induced v
e-asant sense <>f languor. It she
d dared to suggest it, she would
have liked t'> sit down and rest
fo: awhile
Bower, who had substituted rea-
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