ice. It had been ground into the shape of
a bridge pier by the rubbish shooting past. We stopped a bit and
argued if we should give it up, but the guide declared he knew a better
way down into the next valley and Walters seemed keen, so we ate
something, took another drink, and set off again. The slope was
dangerously steep and I thought the guide was using his ax wildly, but
we came to a deep crack in the wall and when Walters suggested that it
might help us out of the gully I threw off the rope. It would have
been of no use if I had fallen, and I meant to come down unless I saw a
fairly safe route to the snowfield. In fact, I think I meant to give
up the climb and only went to find an excuse for this.

"The crack was not quite vertical and gave a good hold, but when I'd
got up eighteen or twenty feet I came to an awkward slab. It bulged
out, but I found a hold for my hands and scrambled over the edge. I
managed this because the alternative was falling off and shooting to
the bottom of the _coulee,_ but perhaps because I was weaker than I
thought, I wrenched my shoulder during the lift. Anyhow, I couldn't
use my arm. It appeared afterwards that a ligament was strained, and
the joint pinches yet.

"For a minute or two I thought hard. There was no way up, and I hadn't
nerve enough to lower myself over the ledge by one arm. When I moved
the other cautiously it hurt worse than at first. I called to the
others and told them how I was fixed, but got a shock when the guide
looked up.

"'Can't get down?' he said. 'Then why in thunder don't you jump?'

"'The fool's drunk,' Walters explained and added that he'd try to bring
me the rope.

"I told him to throw me the end, as there was a knob I could double it
round and then slide down both parts. The trouble was that Walters had
nothing much to stand on when he tried to throw the coil. He lost his
balance, slid down the gully, and jerked the guide out of his step. I
saw Walters' ax shoot down in front, but the guide stuck to his, and
the blade dragging over the rough surface checked them a bit. For all
that, it looked as if they'd go straight to the bottom and they would
hardly have got there alive, but the small rock wasn't far below. I
don't think I breathed while I waited to see if it would bring them up.

"Walters struck the rock first and was very quick with the rope; in
fact, I was astonished at his coolness, because he must have got a
heavy blow. H