From "Taku River to Taylor Bay 



and whining as If trying to say, "Surely you are not 

 going down there." I said, "Yes, Stickeen, this is the 

 only way." He then began to cry and ran wildly 

 along the rim of the crevasse, searching for a better 

 way, then, returning baffled, of course, he came be- 

 hind me and lay down and cried louder and louder. 



After getting down one step I cautiously stooped 

 and cut another and another in succession until I 

 reached the point where the sliver was attached to the 

 wall. There, cautiously balancing, I chipped down the 

 upcurved end of the bridge until I had formed a small 

 level platform about a foot wide, then, bending for- 

 ward, got astride of the end of the sliver, steadied my- 

 self with my knees, then cut off the top of the sliver, 

 hitching myself forward an inch or two at a time, 

 leaving it about four inches wide for Stickeen. Ar- 

 rived at the farther end of the sliver, which was about 

 seventy-five feet long, I chipped another little plat- 

 form on its upcurved end, cautiously rose to my feet, 

 and with infinite pains cut narrow notch steps and 

 finger-holds in the wall and finally got safely across. 

 All this dreadful time poor little Stickeen was crying 

 as if his heart was broken, and when I called to him 

 in as reassuring a voice as I could muster, he only 

 cried the louder, as if trying to say that he never, 

 never could get down there — the only time that the 

 brave little fellow appeared to know what danger was. 

 After going away as if I was leaving him, he still 

 howled and cried without venturing to try to follow 

 me. Returning to the edge of the crevasse, I told him 

 that I must go, that he could come if he only tried, 



l2SSl 



