on 



When I thrust my head out of the snow-mass 

 and looked about me, I was first appalled by a 

 glance outward, which revealed the terrible height 

 of the precipice on the face of which I was hang- 

 ing. Then I was relieved by a glance upward, 

 which showed me that I was only some twenty 

 feet from the top, and that a return thither would 

 not be very difficult. But if I had walked from 

 the top a few feet farther back, I should have 

 fallen a quarter of a mile. 



One of my snowshoes came off as I struggled 

 out, so I took off the other shoe and used it as a 

 scoop to uncover the lost web. But it proved very 

 slow and dangerous work. With both shoes off I 

 sank chest-deep in the snow ; if I ventured too 

 near the edge of the ledge, the snow would prob- 

 ably slip off and carry me to the bottom of the 

 precipice. It was only after two hours of effort 

 that the shoe was recovered. 



When I first struggled to the surface of the 

 snow on the ledge, I looked at once to find a way 

 back to the top of the precipice. I quickly saw 

 that by following the ledge a few yards beneath 

 the unbroken snow-cornice I could climb to the 



18 



