A NARROW ESCAPE 83

body, I just managed to make those few feet which took
me to above the butte—and there was precious little
to spare. During the last part of my slide the pace was
so terrific that, as soon as it was evident that the danger
zone was passed and that the butte was under me, I
devoted all my remaining efforts to putting on the brakes,
as the chief danger now was of smashing some bones
when the crash on the rocks came.

But fortune was kind to me. For several feet up
from the rocks there was a layer of snow that had slid
down from above, and there was sufficient of it to break
the shock. Even then the jar shook me up badly enough,
and several minutes passed before I could move. Then
TI sorrowfully began to feel myself over. However, though
there was a cut on the back of my head and another
small one on my chin, and though my moccasins, which
I happened to be wearing, were half gone, and my heels
and finger-tips were raw and bleeding from the friction
of the ice, there were no bones broken and I really was
more frightened than hurt.

By the time I had pulled myself together, Blackman
had come down to the edge of the snow above me. He
too was badly frightened and greatly relieved to find me
alive. He had seen me shoot, run across the snow, start
to slide down the ice, but had then lost sight of me just
at the last, and thought I had gone over the bluff. I
called out to him not to attempt to descend, but to go
back for our prospecting picks as it was useless trying
to get up without them.

The goat was still there, so while he was gone I skinned
and cut it up. When Blackman returned he came down
as low as he could in safety, and then slid one of the
picks down to me. With it I commenced to cut steps
up while he did the same down. When the steps were
completed the whole way we each made two trips up and
down and carried the whole of that goat up to where it
would be easily accessible the next day. Then we made
for camp.

Fortunately it was a bright moonlight night, almost

7

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