He had hardly grasped this fact when the movement on his right told of a similar action going on, and he began to help his companion in misfortune, who directly after crouched down beside him, panting heavily, in the narrow space, which their efforts had, however, made wider.
“Horrible!” panted the second at last. “An avalanche. Surely this does not mean death.”
There was no reply, and in the awful darkness a hand was stretched out and an arm grasped.
“Why don’t you say something?” whispered the speaker hoarsely.
“What can I say, man? God only knows.”
“But it is only snow. We must burrow our way out. Wait a moment. This way is towards the open valley.”
“No, no; this. Beyond you is the wall of rock. Let me try.”
For the next ten minutes there was the sound of one struggling to get through the snow, and then it ended with the hoarse panting of a man lying exhausted with his efforts.
“Let me come and try now,” came in smothered accents.
“It is of no use. The snow was loose at first, but farther on it is pressed together hard like ice. Try your way.”