The American Baron | Page 3

six feet wide had been cut out through the snow, and over
this they passed. The snow was soft, and the horses sank deep, so that
progress was slow. Nor was the journey without the excitement of
apparent danger. At times before them and behind them there would
come a low, rumbling sound, and they would see a mass of snow and
ice rushing down some neighboring slope. Some of these fell on the
road, and more than once they had to quit their sleds and wait for the
drivers to get them over the heaps that had been formed across their
path. Fortunately, however, none of these came near them; and Minnie
Fay, who at first had screamed at intervals of about five minutes,
gradually gained confidence, and at length changed her mood so
completely that she laughed and clapped her little hands whenever she
saw the rush of snow and ice. Thus slowly, yet in safety, they pushed
onward, and at length reached the little village of Simplon. Here they
waited an hour to warm themselves, lunch, and change horses. At the
end of that time they set out afresh, and once more they were on their
winding way.
They had now the gratification of finding that they were descending the
slope, and of knowing that this descent took them every minute further
from the regions of snow, and nearer to the sunny plains of Italy.
Minnie in particular gave utterance to her delight: and now, having lost
every particle of fear, she begged to be allowed to drive in the foremost
sled. Ethel had been in it thus far, but she willingly changed places with
Minnie, and thus the descent was made.
The sleds and their occupants were now arranged in the following
order:
First, Minnie Fay alone with the driver.
Second, Mrs. Willoughby and Ethel.
Third, the Dowager and her maid.

Fourth, the three other maids.
Fifth, the luggage.
After these five sleds, containing our party, came another with the
foreign gentleman.
Each of these sleds had a driver to itself.
In this order the party went, until at length they came to the Gorge of
Gondo. This is a narrow valley, the sides of which rise up very abruptly,
and in some places precipitously, to a great height. At the bottom flows
a furious torrent, which boils and foams and roars as it forces its
impetuous way onward over fallen masses of rock and trees and
boulders, at one time gathering into still pools, at other times roaring
into cataracts. Their road had been cut out on the side of the mountain,
and the path had been cleared away here many feet above the buried
road; and as they wound along the slope they could look up at the
stupendous heights above them, and down at the abyss beneath them,
whose white snow-covering was marked at the bottom by the black line
of the roaring torrent. The smooth slope of snow ran down as far as the
eye could reach at a steep angle, filling up all crevices, with here and
there a projecting rock or a dark clump of trees to break its surface.
The road was far beneath them. The drivers had informed them that it
was forty feet deep at the top of the pass, and that its depth here was
over thirty. Long poles which were inserted in the snow projected
above its surface, and served to mark where the road ran.
Here, then, they drove along, feeling wearied with the length of the way,
impatient at the slowness of their progress, and eager to reach their
journey's end. But little was said. All had talked till all were tired out.
Even Minnie Fay, who at first had evinced great enthusiasm on finding
herself leading the way, and had kept turning back constantly to
address remarks to her friends, had at length subsided, and had rolled
herself up more closely in her furs, and heaped the straw higher about
her little feet.

Suddenly, before them, and above them, and behind them, and all
around them, there arose a deep, low, dull, rushing sound, which
seemed as if all the snow on the slope was moving. Their ears had by
this time become sufficiently well acquainted with the peculiar sound
of the rushing snow-masses to know that this was the noise that
heralded their progress, and to feel sure that this was an avalanche of
no common size. Yes, this was an avalanche, and every one heard it;
but no one could tell where it was moving, or whether it was near or far,
or whether it was before or behind. They only knew that it was
somewhere along the slope which they were traversing.
A warning cry came from the foremost driver. He