inquiring look.

There were the notches Saxe had cut, but partly melted down by the
action of the sun; there, too, were the holes chipped out and used to
anchor the ice-axe; and then, as if fascinated by the place, Saxe
advanced again to the edge.

"Take care!" said Dale warningly.

"Yes. I only want to see if I can make out the slope up which he
climbed."

The boy lay down upon his chest and peered over, but gave quite a start
directly, as he felt himself touched.

"I was only hooking you by the belt, my lad," said Dale, who had pushed
the head of his axe through the boy's belt. "You can do the same for me
another time."

Saxe flushed a little, and looked down again, feeling that Dale was
treating him as if he were a child.

"Well," said his companion, "can you see the slope?"

"No: nothing but the blue darkness--nothing."

He drew himself away.

"It's a horrible place," he said.

"What are you going to do?"

"Only send a big lump of ice down."

"I suppose that comes natural to all of us," said Dale, smiling, and
helping the lad turn over a huge block broken from one of the shattered
seracs. "I never knew any one yet who did not want to send something
down every hole he saw, even if it was a well."

The block they turned over was roughly cylindrical, and turned over
pretty readily upon their using their axe handles as levers, and at last
they had it close to the brink of the awful chasm, and paused for a few
moments.

"No fear of its hurting any one--eh, Saxe?" said Dale; but he spoke
seriously, for the terrible nature of the place impressed him, and
before going farther the two again peered down into the awful gulf.

The effect was the same on each--a peculiar shrinking, as the thought
came--"Suppose I were to fall?"

"Well, Saxe," said Dale, "shall we push the piece down?"

Saxe nodded, and placed the handle of his axe under the block. Dale did
the same. They raised their hands together, and the great block went
over and dropped out of sight, while they stood listening and waiting
for the heavy bellowing crash, which seemed as if it would never come,
and then far exceeded in violence anything they had imagined.

"It isn't stupid is it, to feel a bit frightened of such a place?" said
Saxe, with his face all in wrinkles.

"I should say the person must be very dense and stupid who is not
frightened of such an awful place. Here, let's get on: it seems rather
waste of time to spend it goin