"Ja, herr," said the poor fellow in a whisper, as he reverted to his native tongue: "Gott sei dank!" Just then Dale began to recover, and uttered a low groan; but consciousness came with one stride, and he sat up, looked sharply round, and said sharply-- "Surely I did not swoon? Ah! I was utterly exhausted. Well, Melchior, lad," he continued, with a forced laugh, "you are no light weight; but we tested the two ropes well. However did you get down to this place?" "Don't ask me now, herr," said the guide. "I am weak, and want rest. Will you let me grasp your hand?" "My dear fellow!" cried Dale eagerly, and he seized and held the poor fellow's hand in both of his. "Now, how are you? Can you get up and walk?" "Oh, yes, herr; and the sooner the better, for I am wet, and it is so cold: I am nearly benumbed." "Here, let's help you," cried Dale, and he and Saxe passed their arms under the poor fellow's shoulders and raised him up. "Thank you--thank you!" he said. "It is the cold that makes me so helpless. Let me sit on that block for a few minutes while you coil up the ropes." This was done; and then the question arose--whereabouts on the glacier were they? "I think I know," said the guide, rather feebly. "Yes: but you are not fit to move," said Saxe. "I must move, young herr," replied the man sadly. "To stay as I am means a terrible illness, perhaps death. But I shall fight it down. The movement will send life into me. Now, have you the axes? Please to give me mine, and I shall creep along. We must get to the tent and a fire somehow." "But you cannot lead, Melchior." "I will lead, herr," he replied, as he rested on Saxe's shoulder. "Here in the mountains man must exert himself if he wishes to live. This way." To the astonishment of both he used his ice-axe as a walking-stick, holding it by the steel head, striking the spike at the end of the handle into the slippery floor, and walking slowly but steadily on along the edge of the crevasse. Saxe felt a strong inclination to go back and peer down into the black depths again, but he had to resist it, and, carrying the lanthorn, he followed close behind Melchior, with one hand raised, ready to snatch at him if he seemed disposed to fall. It was very dark now, and the light from the lanthorn was reflected in a faint, sickly way from the ghostly-looking masses of ice as they threaded their way onward, the guide whispering to them to be silent and careful, as many of the huge pinnacles were unsteady. But, in spite of their cautious procedure, one mass tottered over and came down with an awful crash just as Dale had passed; and the falling of this meant the destruction of a couple of others, the noise of their splintering raising an echo in the narrow gorge which ran upward reverberating like thunder.