Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 282 (Color Image)

0282	Among the Celestials : vol.1

236 AMONG THE CELESTIALS. [CHAP. IX.

hidden around us. Under ordinary circum-

stances we should have proceeded cautiously

down a glacier which, beautiful though it was,

had its full share of crevasses ; and it was only

when I turned round and found one man miss-

ing, that I realised how negligent we had been.

We retraced our steps, and found the poor

fellow had dropped down a crevasse, the mouth

of which had been covered with a thin coating

of ice and snow, which had given way under

his weight, so that he had dropped through.

Very fortunately the crevasse was not wide,

and after falling about fifteen feet he had been

wedged in between the two sides by the load of

my bedding which he was carrying ; so by

letting a rope down we were able to extricate

him in safety. This taught us a lesson, and

for the rest of the way we went along roped

together, as we ought to have been from the

first, and tested each step as we advanced.

I now kept in the rear, and the man with my

bedding was in front of me. As we were closed

up during a temporary halt, I detected a strong

smell of brandy coming from the bundle of

bedding. A distracting thought occurred to me.

I tore open the bundle, and there was my last

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