artridges.

"Good luck to you, Dave," said the senator's son on parting, and he
shook hands warmly. "Remember, I shall be very anxious until I hear from
you again." He followed his chum a short distance up the mountain trail,
and the two were loath to separate.

The route was rocky and uncertain, and during the next two hours Dave
realized what climbing the Alps must be. At certain spots they had to
help one another along, using a rope for that purpose. Once they crossed
a split in the rocks several feet wide and of great depth, and it made
Dave shudder to peer down into the dark and forbidding depths below.

Yet he thought very little of the perils of that arduous journey. His
mind was constantly on his parent. Would he find his father alive, or
had the fall over the cliffs killed his parent?

"God grant he is alive!" he said to himself, over and over again.

They had started directly after breakfast, and by noon reached a small
level spot where they took a well-deserved rest. From this place the
guide pointed out the cliffs from which Mr. Porter had fallen.

"But you cannot reach them from here," he explained, in his native
dialect, to Granbury Lapham. "To get to them we must walk at least a
mile further. And even then I know of no way to reach the spot to which
the poor man fell."

"I'll reach that somehow," said Dave, when the guide's words had been
translated to him.

"Well, lad, you must be careful," cautioned Granbury Lapham. "No use in
your losing your life, you know."

But Dave merely shook his head. He was bound to find his father, dead or
alive, no matter what the cost. For the time being he could think of
absolutely nothing else. That, and that alone, possessed him, heart and
soul.

The air was clear, with little or no wind, which was one comfort. As
they went on they had to pass around great ridges of snow and over
hummocks of ice, where the water had frozen while tumbling down the
mountain side. There were but few trees in that vicinity, although a
small forest grew at the foot of the cliffs.

At last they reached a spot where the guide said a small and decidedly
uncertain trail led to the bottom of the upper cliff--the first one over
which Mr. Porter had fallen.

"Then that is where I am going," said Dave. "Perhaps I can find out
something about my father there."

"You had better come with us," answered Granbury Lapham. "As soon as I
have met my brother we can all come back to this place."