Show 11 the climbers flora dear your letter rather piqued me your accusations were uncalled for I 1 am not secretive neither have I 1 evaded your questions purposely judson barnet or jack as we now call him Is a wonderfully clever interesting man and I 1 admire him exceedingly you may safely gratify your curiosity with the anfor mation that I 1 am not in love with him t you surprised to receive my card postmarked switzerland this has been rightly designated the play ground of europe I 1 have had such a perfect time and dislike to think that but tine one more week remains to enjoy the scenery I 1 have actually climbed five giant glant mountains of the alps aren t you envious our party arrived at lu cerne cern e during the late afternoon and when I 1 viewed those majestic moun bains hedged about with mystery the glaciers filling the neighboring valleys the snow peaks whose white outline against the sky was cameo like in its clearness I 1 longed to reach their summits jack and a few others voiced the same desire and our consuming ambition became to add notches to our alpenstocks alpen stocks early next morning we ascended rigl rigi to see the sun rise what an inspiring sight far below flowed i the river reuss and there was lu luj cerne surrounded with its walls and nine toll houses resembling a fairy city held in the fastness of the moun talus by some powerful enchanter the pink gold light of dawn her aiding alding the approach of day touched each tip of the towers then spread over the flowery fields of the valley this seemed strange when we were surrounded by snow fields the following week we went to L lake ilke briena and crossed to interi laken a here the incomparable jung frau loomed invitingly in the distance the mountain would not come to us so like mohammed we went to tha the mountain at lauterbrunnen Lauter brunnen village we took the cable cars which lifted us 2200 2 feet to the famous little al at pine village of murren here we had a wonderful view ol 01 Jung frau this maiden of the alps alpa appeals strangely to one she is sur passed in beauty by monte rosa and in grandeur by the Matt erhorn to me she is the loveliest of mountains we reached the summit at sunset I 1 never imagined such wonderful col oring possible the evening clouds and shadows gathered and finally night enshrouded the peaks with nith ite dark silent pall we descended half way down the mo mountain LAtain and spent tha the night at a picturesque swiss inn vi here we sat around the huge firer fire place relating strange experiences the following day we vve journeyed acl byron a lake geneva with its roman tic castle castlo of chillon s sa s1 ei ding two weeks there then we came to zeri matt I 1 am a real mountaineer now I 1 ou on should see me attired in a rough suit with spiked shoes green hat adorned with a sprig of edelweiss and my rucksack ruck sack strapped to my back I 1 somewhat resemble pilgrim on an his rough and weary way first we as ended monte rosa and two days later braved the Matt erhorn I 1 did not enjoy climbing this mountain and you will hardly blame me when you have heard all bis six of us started out tied to the same guide after climbing tor for hours houra and hours I 1 became frightfully ta fa and while scaling a rugged crag I 1 slipped and turned my ankle again to proceed was impo sible the guide told us of several huts built to shelter stormbound climbers clil all bers instructing us to remain there until he returned and not to attempt aa a descent jack assisted me ir fact I 1 was nas almost helpless to the hut a quarter iu arter of a mile from the path lie ile built a fire and bandaged my ankle giving me instant relief and I 1 tell fell asleep I 1 awoke several hours later to find a tempting spread the contents ot of our ruck rucksack sack we were ravenously hun gry and ate everything in sight at three 0 clock a terrific snowstorm rm in all its fiendish fury burst a the mountain I 1 tried my best not to ap pear I 1 frightened right ened but as the houi s wore on and d laky darkness enveloped us I 1 wondered it the gu de had forgotten to come all night long ne ve trained our ears for any sound which elgh foretell the approach of the party morning foun foune the storm still raging jack showed ed signs ol 01 worry our food was entirely gone kt U two 0 clock the sky cleared and ave e started to descend we aae t gone far when we were met by a searching party two of them escorted us to Zer zermatt matt it was mas a wonderful experience but I 1 haven t the slightest desire to re rei peat it jack just brought the dreadful news that four of the original party mere lost in the storm what a horrible fate tonight we stood upon the balcony and watched the calm sunset lights burn upon the Brel thorna s crest one last taint faint rosy glimmer touched tho the Matt erhorn then all grew gray and colorless day was done A shudder passed over us both our unusual experience has drawn us very near dear flora and I 1 appreciate his bigness of 0 spirit but I 1 do not love him blin yet ever fondly new ew york press |