“It must have been between noon and one o’clock”—­the guide was saying—­ “when we crossed the Col and began on the rocks.  I was leading, of course; the Herr next, and Michel”—­this was their porter—­“behind.  We had halted and lunched at the foot of the rocks.  They were nasty, with a coating, for the most part, of thin ice which we must knock away; but not really dangerous.  The Herr was silent; not singing—­he had been singing and laughing all through the morning—­but in high spirits.  He kept his breath now for business.  I never knew him fatigued; and that day I had to beg him once or twice not to press the pace.  Michel was tired, I think, and the wine he had taken earlier had upset his stomach; also he had been earning wages all the winter in England as a gentleman’s valet and this was his first ascent for the year, so it may have been that his nerve was wrong.

“The first trouble we had with him was soon after starting on the rocks.  We were roped; and at the first awkward place he said, ’If one of us should slip now, we are all lost.’  The Herr was annoyed, as I have never seen him; and I too was angry, the more because what he said had some truth, but it was not, you understand, the moment to say it.  After this we had no great trouble until we had passed the place where Herr Mummery turned back.  About thirty metres from the summit we came to a bit requiring caution; a small couloir filled with good ice but at a slope—­so!” Here Christian held his open hand aslant, but Mr. Frank did not lift his eyes.  “They anchored themselves and held me while I cut steps—­large steps—­across it.  On the other side there was no good foothold within length of the rope, so I cast off, and the Herr came across in my steps with Michel well anchored.  It was now Michel’s turn, and having now the extra length of rope brought across by the Herr, I could go higher to a rock and moor myself firmly.  The Herr was right enough where he stood, but not to bear any strain; so I told him to cast off that I might look to Michel alone.  While he unknotted his rope I turned to examine the rock, and at that instant . . .  Michel did not understand, or was impatient to get it over . . . at any rate he started to cross just as the Herr had both hands busy.  He slipped at the third step . . .  I heard, and turned again in time to see the jerk come.  The Herr bent backward, but it was useless:  he was torn from his foothold—­”

The little clergyman nodded and broke in:  “They were found, close together, on a ledge two thousand feet below.  Your son, sir, was not much mutilated, though many limbs were broken—­and his spine and neck.  The bodies were found the next day and brought down.  We did all that was possible.  Shall I take you and madame to the grave?”

But the guide had not finished.  “He fell almost on top of Michel, and the two went spinning down the couloir out of sight.  I do not think that Michel uttered any cry:  but the Herr, as the strain came and he bent backwards against it, seeking to get his axe free and plant it . . . though that would have been useless . . . the Herr cried once and very loud . . . such a strange cry!—­”