“Yes,” said Hugh, “I reckon that’s so. I took notice of another thing,” he went on, “as we were coming along. Did you see how this ice seems to be in layers? Some of ’em are half an inch thick and some of ’em an inch, and there seems to be a thin crust of dirt that separates one layer from another.”
“Yes,” said Jack, “I noticed that, and I was wondering how it could happen, or what it meant.”
“Well, I was figuring on that very thing,” said Hugh, “and it seemed to me that these little layers of dirt must be the dust and dirt blown off the mountainside by the wind after each fall of snow.”
“Well, Hugh,” said Jack, “that seems a natural explanation. We all know how the wind is always blowing up here, and we all know that old snow is always dusty. I guess you’re right.”
By this time Hugh’s pipe was smoked out, and he rose to his feet and said, “Come on, we’ve got to stretch our legs some more and see if we can go up to the ridge. There looks to be a low place up ahead of us, and maybe if we can get up there we can see over the range. Look out for yourselves when you are walking over this smooth ice. If a man slips on one of these steep places, he’s liable to go a long way before stopping.”
The caution was a wise one, and for some distance they walked along carefully, keeping either on the moraine or on the very edge of the ice, or choosing a path where the snow was old and hard and gave a firm footing.
At one point, however, Joe tried to make a short cut by climbing over some old snow which was quite steep. Before he had gone very far the others saw him begin to dig his feet into the hard snow as if uncertain of his footing, then he slipped, recovered himself, stood for an instant as if doubtful whether to go backward or forward, took another step and then his feet flew out from under him and he began to slide down the slope. It looked very funny to see him flying over the snow, but Hugh did not laugh, for he feared that possibly the boy might go on until he brought up against rough rocks below. Luckily nothing of this kind happened, and after going about a hundred yards at a high rate of speed, Joe ran into some soft snow and his momentum was checked. He stopped, rose to his feet, and making his way cautiously back to the edge of the rocks, took the safe but longer road that his companions had followed.
Hugh and Jack waited until he had come up, and then Hugh, shaking his head, said to him, “That wasn’t very smart, Joe. You’d better not try any more experiments of that kind; it’s dangerous. A man may slip any time on one of these smooth icy slopes, and if he does he never can tell where he’ll stop. You might have slid down there and brought up against the rocks, and broken some bones or killed yourself, and then we’d have had a hard time packing you down this hill and taking you into the agency. Then, besides that, sometimes these big pieces of ice are all cracked and full of holes, and if anyone should slip into one of those he might go down to the bottom and get killed by the fall on the rocks below, or if he stuck somewhere half way down he’d freeze to death before he could be hauled out. One thing we’ll have to do after this when we’re climbing in bad places; that is, to bring along a couple of sling ropes and tie ourselves together. It isn’t likely that all three of us will slip and fall at the same time, and if only one slips, the other two can haul him out.”
“That’s a mighty good idea,” said Jack; “I was scared when I saw Joe sliding down that ice. I remember reading about people climbing the mountains in Switzerland where they carry ice axes. They’re sort of like adzes, with long straight handles and a spike in the end of the handle, and are used for cutting steps in the ice or hard snow. The people who are climbing tie themselves together with ropes and go mighty slowly and carefully, so that there is no danger of more than one man slipping at the same time. They go along one by one, and when one man is moving—I mean, of course, in bad places—the others all stand still and fasten their axes in the ice or hang on to the rope, so that if he does slip, there’s no trouble about catching him. I remember reading that most of the accidents happen where people have so much confidence in themselves that they are not willing to be roped together, and some man makes a blunder and falls and the others just have to stand and look at him.”
“Well,” said Hugh, “if we’re going to do much climbing around here, we ought to fix ourselves out in some such way as that. I tell you I’m too old myself to try any of these experiments.