An Oberland Châlet

by Edith Elmer Wood

The smoke had cleared away, so we could see the room, its furniture and occupants. There was a long deal table with a bench at each side, set with enamel ware cups and plates. There was a small but energetic stove and a simple outfit of cooking utensils. These were all furnished by the Alpine Club. Printed notices on the wall requested those availing themselves of the hut to leave everything clean and in order. An open door showed us the hut’s other room. It contained a raised platform heaped high with straw, long enough for a dozen people to sleep on in a row. On a cord above were hung a generous supply of gray blankets.

Considerably to our disgust, we found that the other party’s supper and ours were to be celebrated simultaneously. But in this refuge provided for all alike, we clearly had no right to object, if their own sense did not show them the desirability of keeping to themselves. Our guide, on the other hand, positively declined to sit down at the table with us, whether to set his fellow-countrymen a good example or simply because he was on duty (which they were not), I do not know.

We gave Belle Soeur the protected seat in the middle. Frater had the barber next to him, and the stable man was next to me, the cook beyond.

Let me now state that the cook was, so far as we were concerned, an entirely respectable and unobjectionable member of society. If he drank too much of their precious tea and cognac mixture, he did not show it, and he did not obtrude himself on us in any way.

The barber did not show any signs of intoxication at this time, but he was an unthinkably unpleasant little beast, curled, powdered, perfumed, dressed in a flamboyant tourist costume which included plaid golf stockings and knickerbockers, and possessed of a most colossal nerve. He evidently regarded himself as a lady-killer. He knew a few words of English, and armed with them he proceeded to be polite to Belle Soeur. Belle Soeur can be pretty chilly when she likes and Frater’s snubs were of the knockdown variety, but nothing seemed to make any impression on the barber’s cuticle. He had a camera along and offered to take our pictures in the morning. This was finally declined so that he understood it, but it took a battle-ship’s broadside to do it. He appeared to be sure that our feet must be cold and wet and that we were too timid to avail ourselves of the fleece-lined wooden shoes which are part of the outfit of an Alpine hut. From the time of our arrival at the front door to our retiring for the night, he urged these shoes upon us at fifteen-minute intervals.

During supper the barber and the stableman vied with each other in pressing upon us each and every article of their rather elaborate menu.

The stableman was in the maudlin and verbose stage. He assured us that among the eternal snows of the upper Alpine regions all social distinctions are obliterated, and high and low, rich and poor, meet on a plane of equality. (This in explanation of their sharing the table and benches with us, I suppose.) I said unresponsively that there could be no objection to anyone’s poverty and lowliness so long as he was sober and respectable. At this he almost dissolved into tears and confided to me that he knew he had drunk too much, that it was a very bad thing to do, that he was very sorry, but what would you? After a summer’s hard work, the first day of freedom, etc.

Meanwhile, Frater, who could not follow the German, was wanting to know whether my neighbor was saying anything sufficiently objectionable to merit personal chastisement. I reassured him, and we tried to keep up the conversation among ourselves, ignoring our neighbors. But they declined to stay ignored and kept offering this, that, and the other article of food or drink. They seemed unable to believe that our declining these overtures was prompted by anything but shyness. “The High Alps are not like cities,” the stableman explained. “In the High Alps all men are brothers and share all things equally. No one feels any hesitation in either giving or receiving. We are so small and helpless in the hands of God! We must do all we can to help one another.”

Shall I ever forget that hideous meal? We got through as quickly as possible and left the table. It was snowing too hard and was too bitterly cold to go outdoors again. We went through into the other room and shut the door and held a council of war. Should we sit up all night? That would involve returning next day to the Grimsel. We clearly could not sit up all night and take the trip over the Strahlegg, too.