e upper part of the glacier should give way; but was
there footing to be found upon them?

They swept their eyes along the nearest cliff. It offered but little
hope. Yes--upon closer inspection there was a ledge--a very narrow one,
but yet capable of giving refuge to two or three men; and, above all, it
was easy of access. It would serve their purpose.

Like men seeking shelter from a heavy shower, or running to get out of
the way of some impending danger, all three made for the ledge; and
after some moments spent in sprawling and climbing against the cliff,
they found themselves standing safely upon it.--Small standing-room they
had. Had there been a fourth, the place would not have accommodated
him. There was just room enough for the three side by side, and
standing erect.

Small as the space was, it was a welcome haven of refuge. It was the
solid granite, and not the fickle ice. It looked eternal as the hills;
and, standing upon it, they breathed freely.

But the danger was not over, and their apprehensions were still keen.
Should the upper part of the glacier give way, what then? Although it
could not reach them where they stood, the surface might sink far below
its present level, and leave them on the cliff--upon that little ledge
on the face of a black precipice!

Even if the upper ice held firm, there was another thought that now
troubled them. Karl knew that what had occurred was a _glacier slide_--
a phenomenon that few mortals have witnessed. He suspected that the
slide had taken place in that portion of the glacier below the crevasse
they had just crossed. If so, the lye would be widened, the huge gneiss
rock that bridged it gone, and their _retreat down the glacier cut off_!

Upward they beheld nothing but the beetling cliffs meeting together. No
human foot could scale them. If no outlet offered in that direction,
then, indeed, might the jesting allusion of Caspar be realised. They
might be imprisoned between those walls of black granite, with nought
but ice for their bed, and the sky for their ceiling. It was a fearful
supposition, but all three did not fail to entertain it.

As yet they could not tell whether their retreat downwards was in
reality cut off. Where they stood an abutment of the cliff hid the
ravine below. They had rushed to their present position, with the first
instinct of preservation. In their flight, they had not thought of
looking either toward the crevasse or th