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