Newspaper Page Text
Through a
T elescope
A Tragedy In the Alps That
Was Seen by One Who ILept
His Own Counsel.
By F. A. MITCHEL.
Copyright, lfilO. by American Press
Assockit ion.
If you go to Interlaken it is quite
possible you may see the man who told
me this story. You will find him
standing almost any day when the at
mosphere Is transparent and the glori
ous Jungfrau looms up beautifully in
a notch between two of the foothills,
standing beside the main street of the
town, showing the mountain through
his telescope to tourists at half a franc
a “look.” I do not mean to say that
he put the facts at the bottom of his
yarn together as a story. Nevertheless
they are a story, and it is my part to
arrange them in proper form. Here it
Is as he told it to me, with certain
transpositions of mine necessary to its
ready understand lug:
One day a few summers ago 1 was
standing here showing people the
mountain when a party came along
consist lug ol' it young girl and two
young men. The girl and one of the
young men were Americans. The other
young man, 1 judged from his accent,
was French. The American man was
a quiet, steady looking fellow. The
Frenchman was handsome, with all the
vivacity of the French people, while
the girl was one of your American
beauties. The names of all three I after
ward learned, ami I shall never forget
them. The American ran was Archi
bald Wallace; the Frenchman was
Jean l.e Yerian; tin* girl was Alice
Clark.
)h, there is a teh's-op:*!” exclaimed
Miss Clark as t>he approached me.
*‘l to let's have a look.”
With her American impulse she put
lit a' eye to the eyepiece, while 1 made
the adjust meats.
"Isn't It wonderful?” she said en
thusiastically. "What beautiful slopes!
What awful gulfs! liut it is fascinat
ing. I’m crazy to go tip there.”
The very next afternoon 1 was stand
ing here, as usual, waiting for people
to come along and pay me for a look
through my telescope, when, seeing a
mass of snow cti the mountain begin
ning to move, I put my eye to tin*
glass. After witnessing an avalanche
turning the glass about over the moun
tain 1 saw three figures, two men and
a woman, not far above the snow line.
My glass did not reveal their feature's,
but 1 suspected they were the party
who had been with me the day before.
I watched them for some time. Aft
er awhile 1 saw one of the men stroll
away around a snow covered rock,
where he was screened from the oth
ers, and look over a cliff. Then he
went part of the way back and, 1 fan
cied, called of course 1 could not hear
him to the other man, for the latter
went around the rook and joiued him,
and the two stood on the edge of the
cliff together looking over. Suddenly
I saw one figure behind the other and
the front one fall over the elilf.
There was a sleep incline at the
cliff's base of hard snow. The mo
ment the figure that had fallen struck
this snow 1 saw him glance, then shoot
down on the surface, lie passed be
hind a peak, and when In* again ap
peared 1 saw him still sliding. Then
lie slid around a bend and disappeared.
As soon as 1 was convinced that 1
should not see him again I turned my
glass back to the other figure, lie was
running toward the woman. When he
reached her there was a pantomime
which Indicated he was telling her
that the other man had fallen over the
cliff. But 1 knew very well that he
had pushed his friend--or enemy, as
the ease might be over. While I
could not distinguish the woman's fea
tures. 1 knew by her motions that sin*
was terribly moved by the tragedy.
She went with the remaining man to
the cliff, and the two seemed to be
looking down at Its base to see If they
could get a glimpse of their compan
ion. Then they turned away and de
scended the mountain.
I was satisfied that one of the men
had pushed the other over the cliff
and that they were Wallace and l.e
Verlun, tliouch 1 could not teil wli'.-h
was the victim. ! knew full well that
the matter would soon be reported ami
resolved to keen my own counsel, cu
rious to know In what form the trag
edy would be made known.
The same night 1 heard that a terri
ble accident bad happened to a young
American stopping at the J. hotel.
I went there and got the story from
the concierge. He said that while a
Mr. Wallace, an American, was look
ing over a cliff a crust of sumv had
given way under his feet and lie had
fallen 100 feet to the bottom. He had
doubtless been killed. A party was be
ing made up to go the next day to look
for his body.
Making further Inquiries. I learned
that he had gone up the mountain side
with a Jean Le Verkin, a Parisian, and
a Miss Clark of Philadelphia. While
t was permitting people to tell me
about what I knew much more than
they, Be Yerian passed me. lie looked
very somber, as one might be expected
to appear who had witnessed the trag
edy he had reported. I tried to de
fect the look of a villain in his face,
but failed. Either he was not guilty,
ns I supposed, or he carried the con
sciousness of his guilt so well that it
would not betray him.
The next morning I joined the party
that, set out to find Wallace’s body, my
object being to follow, if possible, the
route he would be forced over and to
determine whether he could have es
caped with his life. Having reached
the bottom of the cliff, the party were
surprised to find no traces of the body,
and we all followed the incline to the
point where it had disappeared from
my view. A short distance beyond
tills there was a fork in the possible
route, one branch leading to a gradual
rise, upon attaining which he would
have soon stopped; the other leading
to the edge of a crevasse into which
he would have fallen to an unknown
depth.
Every member of the party agreed
that Wallace must have slid into the
crevasse. As for me, 1 said nothing,
thinking the chances either way were
even. We returned to Interlaken, and
the party reported the result of their
investigations, with the opinion that
the body, being in the crevasse, could
not easily be recovered. I resolved to
await developments. If Wallace had
escaped we should hear from him with
in a reasonable time.
A few days later an old gentleman
came up to me while 1 was standing
beside my telescope and asked me if
the place from which the American
had fallen was visible from where we
stood. I assured him that it was and
directed my telescope toward it. He
put Iris eye to the glass and since it
was in the center of the field of view
seemed to recognize it at oner*.
"If any one had been looking through
your glass at the time the accident
oceured, would he have seen it?” ho
asked.
"Certainly,” I replied.
“Fau figures and faces In* distin
guished up there through your tele
scope so as to know them?”
“Not surely.”
“Could yen see an act in which two
figures were involved?”
"Not very clearly.”
Something in the man's voice was
familiar to me. As he turned and
faced fine 1 saw that lie was "made
up,” as the theatrical people say. Then
something suddenly burst upon me.
Was it a droop of one shoulder? Was
it the interest he had manifested in
tin* tragedy? 1 could not tell, but 1
knew the old man was young Wallace
disguised.
"I was hiking through my glass,”
I said, “when that tragedy occurred.”
1 felt a grip on my arm, and the man
was fairly glaring at me.
"Were you? What dkl you see?” he
said, trying to master his emotion.
1 told him what 1 had seen as 1 have
told it here. He would not permit me
to leave out the slightest detail. When
1 had finished I added:
"You are Mr. Wallace, aud you were
pushed over that cliff. I saw enough
to convince me that what 1 witnessed
was an attempted murder. Now tell
me of the man’s motive.”
lb* told me that Miss Clark was an
American millionairess; that he had
known her at home and they had re
cently become engaged. In Paris Le
Yerian had been introduced to the
girl, had joined the party with whom
she was traveling and had been trying
to win her. Doubtless recognizing that
Wallace was the main obstacle in the
way of getting her and her millions,
be bad attempted to put lfini out of
the way.
Wallace had landed where I sup
posed In* would land, being only shale
en up by (lit* glance be had made at
the bottom of the cliff. Realizing that
if be accused I.t* Yerian of trying to
murder him he would have no evi
dence of the fact, he had. disguised
himself and returned with a view to
watching his rival without being
known to him. He had not 'ot made
himself known to Miss Clalk. being
desirous to discover bow she felt to
ward bis would be murderer. From
what in* bad observed he feared that
l.e Yorinn was making some I eadway
lu his suit, but could not tell. Lis
fiancee bad been apparently much
shocked.
Having learned that 1 would bo able
to testify. Mr. Wallace resolved to
make himself known to Le Yerian
and Miss Clark. lie came to see me
tin* next day and described the seem*
as it occurred at the J. hotel. He had
taken a private parlor iw*d sent a mes
sage to l.e Yerian and Miss Clark that
if they would come to the apartment
they would learn something of CJeorge
Wallace
They came, the girl looking hopeful
ly anxious, tlie man very much .agi
tated. Wallace, who was dressed as
an old man. threw off his disguise and
stood before them as himself. The
girl started toward him with a cry and
fell in a swoon in his arms. The man
stood looking like a serpent about to
strike a final blow for life.
Wallace put <mt bis hand and touch
ed a bell. Li* Yerian stood trembling
like a leaf. A waiter entered, and
Wallace told him to call the proprietor.
He came, and Wallace deefared him
self to be the missing American and
denounced l.e Yerian as his would be
murderer.
At that moment Miss Clark came to
herself and heard his accusation.
I never learned what became of Le
Yerian. I heard nothing about a trial
and inferred that Mr. Wallace and his
fiancee shrank from prosecuting him.
But the next summer while I was
showing the Jungfrau to some tour
ists I heard a familiar voice say:
“Can you show me the cliff from
which Wallace, the American, fell?”
1 turned. There stood Mr. Wallace
himself with the American girl on his
arm.
“Mrs. Wallace and 1 would like to
see the place.” he added.
But the lady shrank away with a
shudder, and her husband failed to In
duce her to take even a glance.
Yes; I made something out of it.
Wallace liTid given rue money before
he left. Interlaken and gave me more
when he returned. I invested it In
some American securities he recom
mended.
STRAN3E COMPANIONS.
The “Happy Family” and a Kitten and
a Hawk.
The fir public exhibition of a “hap
py famil}" in England was given
about fifty years ago, when there were
shown a monkey, a cat. several rats
and three or four pigeons in one cage.
The monkey was on excellent terms
with the eat so long as puss would
allow him to warm himself by cud
dling her; otherwise lie would show
liis vexation by slyly giving her tail
a nip with his teeth.
The birds perched on the cat's back
and peeked at her fur, and the rats
were as friendly with their natural
enemy as if she were one of fheir own
sort.
A lady walking in the Isle of Wight
observed a little kitten curled up on
a mossy bank taking a midday nap.
As she stopped to stroke it a hawk
swooped down and. pouncing upon the
kitten, hid it: from sight.
The lady, fearing for the life of the
kitten, tried to rescue it, but the hawk
firmly faced her, stood tit bay and re
fused to move. She hastened to a
fisherman’s cottage and told the in
mates of the impending tragedy.
"It’s always so,” they said, laughing.
“That hawk always comes down if
any one goes near the kitten. He has
taken to it and stays near at hand
to watch whenever it goes to sleep."
The lady, greatly interested, made
further inquiry and learned that the
kitten’s mother had died, after which
the nursiing was missed for several
days. One day the hawk was seen
about the cottage picking tip scraps of
meat and carrying them to the roof of
the cottage.
The fisherman climbed up and found
the lost kitten nestled in a hole in the
thatch and thriving under the care of
its strange foster father. It was
brought down and restored to the cot
tage. but the hawk would not resign
Ills charge.and was always at hand to
rescue the kitten from the caresses of
strangers.—Philadelphia North Amer
ican.
Dictionary Lore.
■‘Poison’’ and "pmion" are doublets,
the former being an older form of the
latter. Both are derived from the
Latin "potare," to drink, and “poison"
in its original sense signified merely
something to drink.
While the word “human” used as
meaning "a human being” is now
only colloquial or humorous, I.owell
in the introduction to the “Biglow Pa
pers” chi led Bartlett for including it
in his "Dictionary of Americanisms"
and remarked that it was Chapman’s
habitual phrase in his translation of
Homer and that it is found also in the
old play qf “The Flog Hath Lost
Ills Pearl.”—Rochester Democrat and
Chronicle.
• A Flame Combination.
!f a small quantity of chlorate of
potash be powdered and mixed with
an equal quantity of'powdered sugar
a candle may be li fitted by means of
the mixture without matches.
Place a little of it in the depression
around the wi k of a candle that luts
been previously used and then touch
ti e mixture with a glass red the end
of which lus been dipped in oil of
vitri !. H will burst into Came, light
ing the candle.
An Cvsrive Answer.
“We dtned at Mrs, CrankVeigh’a last
night."
“I suppose you h id n good dinner."
“Well, wo found out that Mrs.
Crankialgh Is an active member of the
society for bo;, coding nil the high
priced fa> dtiffs Cleveland Plain
Dealer,
Ce'f Protection.
“You didn’t really need a wig."
"I was driven to it. Now the bar
ber won’t try to soil me any fofiics
or hair restorer."—Louisville (Courier
Journal.
Never add the burden of yesterday’s
trouble to that of tomorrow. The one
is past; the other may uovtr come.
There Is more
to a Fertilizer
than Analyses
The mere mixing of
materials to obtain analy
sis requires no special
knowledge. The value
of a fertilizer lies in the
source from which the
plant food is obtained.
Each ingredient in
Royster goods is selected
with a view of supplying
the plant from sprouting
until harvest. The plant
is not overfed at one
time and starved at an
other. Twenty-five
years experience goes with
every bag.
TRADEMARK^
REGISTERED
Sold by reliable dealers throughout
the SciutSi.
F. S* Royster Guano'Co.
NORFOLK, VA.
Condensed Statement of the Condition of
THE WINDER BANKING CO.
WINDER, GEORGIA,
JANUARY 31, 1910.
RESOURCES
Loans and Discounts $176,681.73
Stocks and Real
Estate 5,800.00'
Furniture and Fixtures 2,465.50
Cash on Hand and in
Banks 26,137.69
$211,084.92
Our Furniture Invites
Your Criticism.
\Yo like to have it looked it. We
like to give bur time to explain its
pood points. Never fear that you
will bother ns too nm<*h. oil
can't bother mat all. Anyway we
will be ahead by having you look,
even if you don’t buy.
For if you nee you can’t
forget, and it’s surely worth
something to us to have you remem’
tier. Worth something to you, too,
when furniture buying comes.
Bring us your ideas and we will
match them for teat at prices may
be lower than you imagine.
Come to see us.
W. T- Robinson.
Hew He Knew.
In a Kansas City court recently,
a nefro on the witness-stand was
being questioned about a sick horse.
“What was the matter with the
horse?” asked the lawyer. “He
was ailin’,” replied the witness
“Yes, 1 know,” said the ques
tioner, “but what was the matter?
LIABILITIES
Capital Stock $ 50,000.00
Surplus and Profits 27,706.31
Deposits 124,498.02
Re-Discounts 8,880.50
$211,084.92
“He wall jes ailin’.” “But
what was wrung? With what dis
ease was he suffering?” “Jes
ailin’,’’ persisted the negro. The
lawye r was qu.it a moment. Then
he had a bright idea. He would"
try to get at the horse’s symptoms.
"Well, how do you know he was
ailing?' - he asked. “’Cause he
died " replied the witness.
Schedule Seaboard Air Line
EASTWARD.
No. 52 For local stations, Mon
roe and Columbia... 9:45 a m
No. 32—For Norfolk, Washing
ton and New York... 2:49 p m
No. 58 —For local stations to I
Athens 6:55 p m *
No. 38—For local stations north
of Athens, Richmond
and East 11:25 p m
WESTWARD.
No. 41—For Atlanta, Birming
ham and west 5:40 a m
No. 57 —For local stations and
Atlanta 7:52 a m
No. 33—For Atlanta, Birming
ham, Memphis and
West 4:02 p m
No. 53—For Atlanta and west 6:55 p m
These arrivals and departures
given as information and are not guat**
inteed.