WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.040 --> 00:00:05.240 Suspense, which is usually heard at this hour on Thursday nights, 2 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:08.919 is taking its customary summer holiday. Suspense returns to the 3 00:00:08.919 --> 00:00:11.919 air six weeks from tonight on Thursday September. 4 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:28.239 First, you are hanging by your fingertips on the sheer 5 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:32.240 face of an icy cliff, suspended one thousand feet above 6 00:00:32.280 --> 00:00:36.920 instant death, with your strength running out and with no 7 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:46.759 chance for escape. 8 00:00:48.920 --> 00:00:52.320 We offer you escape designed to free you from the 9 00:00:52.359 --> 00:01:02.719 four walls of today, for a half hour of high adventure. Tonight, 10 00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:05.439 we escape to the cold, loneliness of a glacier high 11 00:01:05.480 --> 00:01:08.040 in the Swiss Alps, and to a man who learned 12 00:01:08.120 --> 00:01:08.959 much about death. 13 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:09.879 As C. E. 14 00:01:10.040 --> 00:01:13.319 Montague tells it in his famous story Action. 15 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:33.079 High in the Swiss Alps, well above twelve thousand feet, 16 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:37.159 a man clings with desperation to the frozen glass wall 17 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:40.760 of the Shalliacht Glacier, hands and feet jammed in the 18 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:45.400 shallow steps chopped in the iron hard ice. A cold 19 00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:48.760 wind drives a spray of dusty sleet along the overhanging wall, 20 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:52.799 and the sun has fallen away among the crags to 21 00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:59.640 the west. Darkness lies one hour ahey, the man has 22 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:02.599 climed and with painful care a thousand feet up the 23 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:06.840 glacier's face from the broken moraine at the foot, and 24 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:10.479 has moved now on the underside of a great bulge 25 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:13.800 in the ice, a part of the wall which breaks 26 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:17.719 out beyond the perpendicular, and the man is forced to 27 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:21.120 hang from slots cut by his axe, such as a 28 00:02:21.159 --> 00:02:25.960 slough hangs from a tree branch. Twelve more feet lie 29 00:02:26.039 --> 00:02:29.319 between him and the brow of the overhang, six more 30 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:34.080 steps to be chopped out with the axe, and a 31 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:39.919 thousand feet of void space waits beneath him. The man 32 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:42.919 is unable to lift his heavy axe for even one 33 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:47.039 more stroke. He is tired, and he is fifty two 34 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:53.039 years old. No experienced mountaineer would ever attempt the west 35 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:57.400 face of the Chali Up Glacier. And yet this man 36 00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:04.879 is an experienced mountain near And why why? What strange 37 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:07.240 events have conspired to bring him along the path of 38 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:11.680 his life and leave him hanging now in peril on 39 00:03:11.759 --> 00:03:16.360 the brink of eternity? Through What shadows has that path 40 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:19.719 led him? And where are those who saw him pass? 41 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:24.120 Can we ourselves move along it, move back, step by 42 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:27.439 step against the river of time, move backward along the 43 00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:30.280 life path of Christopher Bell. 44 00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:47.000 My name is Jean Valjeules. I'm a guide for all 45 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:49.400 the mountain trails on the Vice Horn and the Chalihorn. 46 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:53.199 I talked with mister Bell this morning as he was 47 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:56.080 leaving the village. The course, at the time, I did 48 00:03:56.120 --> 00:03:59.520 not know that was his name. The season is over 49 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:02.919 here on the winter will come in another week or two, 50 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:06.800 and most all the visitors are gone, So you see, 51 00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:09.599 I was very surprised to hear a stranger call out 52 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:10.879 to me in English. 53 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:15.280 Hello, Ah, Which of these paths takes me to the 54 00:04:15.319 --> 00:04:16.399 foot of the Challio. 55 00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:19.079 The one on the left. But you will find no 56 00:04:19.160 --> 00:04:22.480 chimney there, sir. One arrives very soon at the glacier 57 00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:25.759 and can go no farther, except of course, to climb 58 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:30.199 up it the glacier. But that is unperceived. It has 59 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:32.800 never been done, of course not, it's never been tried. 60 00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:35.319 There is not anyone who would be so foolish. 61 00:04:35.319 --> 00:04:36.839 Messiet No doesn't that. 62 00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:39.600 There are plenty of foolish people in the world, but 63 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:44.959 even they hold on to their marginal safety. Margin of safety, 64 00:04:45.639 --> 00:04:47.839 the difference between the point where a man thinks he's 65 00:04:47.879 --> 00:04:50.800 reached his limit point where that limit really is. 66 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:54.879 I am afraid. I do not understand this, all right. 67 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:57.759 Take a mountaineer such as yourself, huh. You look at 68 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:00.439 a slope and you estimate the effort needed to climb. Yes, 69 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:03.800 then you estimate your own endurance and there isn't a 70 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:05.120 good size safety factor. 71 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:06.759 Just don't make the climb. 72 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:09.120 But it would be foolish not to do so. 73 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:13.279 I dare say, Oh, it's so tied up on a 74 00:05:13.399 --> 00:05:15.800 fear of death, and take that out of a man 75 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:18.199 for one instant. There's no telling what he might be 76 00:05:18.279 --> 00:05:20.319 able to do or what limit he might reach. 77 00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:23.680 And how should a man lose that fear? 78 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:24.720 You can't. 79 00:05:25.639 --> 00:05:26.279 You can't lose. 80 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:30.199 It has to be done for him. My things outside. 81 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:40.720 He turned and left me. Then this mister bell and 82 00:05:40.839 --> 00:05:44.600 walked up the path towards the glacier. That was early 83 00:05:44.680 --> 00:05:47.839 this morning, and I did not see him again. His 84 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:50.800 talk with me made no sense, and I could not 85 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:54.040 understand what he meant to do or why he was 86 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:58.879 going to do it. I remember thinking, what a strange man. 87 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:04.360 But I really know nothing more about you. I believe 88 00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:07.680 he arrived in the village only last night and took 89 00:06:07.720 --> 00:06:09.920 her home in the zinal Inn. 90 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:22.639 My name is great at the Gaspar and I am 91 00:06:22.680 --> 00:06:24.839 staying out the weekie and see how to close up 92 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:25.800 the inn for the winter. 93 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:28.199 I have known mister. 94 00:06:28.040 --> 00:06:32.680 Bell for the last thirty years, alway before he came 95 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:35.839 in the summer season for the climbing, and I was most. 96 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:37.519 Surprised when he arrived last night. 97 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:41.639 I opened one of the rooms and I found something 98 00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:43.519 for him to eat, and then later we sat and 99 00:06:43.639 --> 00:06:49.879 talked in front of the fire in the big empty lounge. 100 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:52.639 This is very good coffee, Madame Gaspar. 101 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:53.920 Thank you, mister Bell. 102 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:57.480 Had you let me know you were coming, I would 103 00:06:57.480 --> 00:07:01.199 have had everything ready for you, just like all the times. 104 00:07:00.839 --> 00:07:04.240 I call the other times, this one's a little different, 105 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:07.879 Madame Gaspar. You might call it a special visit. 106 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:13.439 Oh, it is all so different now from the old days. 107 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:17.160 Then it was you and your Madame would come here, 108 00:07:18.439 --> 00:07:23.759 and it was Gaspar and I and the summers seemed 109 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:25.040 to last forever. 110 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:28.360 I thought everything would last forever when she was alive. 111 00:07:29.879 --> 00:07:31.839 Now I'm really alone in the world. 112 00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:35.680 As am I, and it is not good to be alone. 113 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:39.480 It gives one no reason for living. 114 00:07:40.519 --> 00:07:43.759 But there may be stronger reasons for not wanting to live. 115 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:48.480 Is there something happening to you, mister Bell. 116 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:54.639 No, no, not now. There may have been, but not now. 117 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:57.360 I shall be leaving quite early in the morning for 118 00:07:57.480 --> 00:08:01.120 a climb, so I think I'll go on to bed. 119 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:03.279 Good night, Madame Gosmar. 120 00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:08.680 Mister Bell left the inn this morning before I wakened, 121 00:08:08.839 --> 00:08:11.680 and I have not seen him again. I have never 122 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:14.759 known him to act so strange before. I have no 123 00:08:14.839 --> 00:08:17.720 idea what the reason is or what he may be 124 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:22.399 planning to do, but I am sure something is troubling him. 125 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:25.879 Perhaps it may be something connected with his business in London. 126 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:38.559 My name is Matthew Gruff. I have been chief clerk 127 00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:41.679 and mister Bell's London office over the past twenty five years. 128 00:08:42.279 --> 00:08:46.519 I've always found him to be considerate, independable employer. I've 129 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:50.879 never noticed anything about call unusual about him until one day, 130 00:08:50.919 --> 00:08:54.200 about three weeks ago. Mister Bell entered the establishment a 131 00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:57.320 bit later as I recall, and passed immediately into his 132 00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:02.360 own office without acknowledging my customary agreep. A little while afterward, 133 00:09:02.519 --> 00:09:03.159 he said for. 134 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:08.279 Me, Matthew, where do we go from here? 135 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:10.879 I can't say that I follow you, mister Bell. 136 00:09:11.240 --> 00:09:13.240 I mean the company is on a steady footing, so 137 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:15.000 if we use our heads at all, we don't stand 138 00:09:15.080 --> 00:09:16.440 much chance of losing anything. 139 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:18.360 Yes, our position is quite secure. 140 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:20.399 On the other hand, we can't expect to do any 141 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:24.240 more growing through expanding now on, it's merely a matter 142 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:24.759 of operation. 143 00:09:25.159 --> 00:09:27.120 Most enviable conditions. 144 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:29.919 Is it? There's nothing more to look forward to, nothing 145 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:34.480 more to work for. So where do we go from here? Matthew, 146 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:37.519 I'm putting you in charge of the business, turning it 147 00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:38.759 over to you effective this week. 148 00:09:39.159 --> 00:09:42.039 Mister Bell, you can't possibly mean now. 149 00:09:42.120 --> 00:09:43.519 Yes, yes, I've just decided. 150 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:45.840 But what are you going to do, sir? 151 00:09:46.600 --> 00:09:49.039 I'm taking a trip. I'm going to Switzerland. Maybe do 152 00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:50.320 a little mountain climbing. 153 00:09:50.679 --> 00:09:54.320 Oh well, then at least it's only temporary, just for 154 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:55.559 whatever time you're gone. 155 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:59.840 Yes, that's right, for whatever time I'm gone, Just for 156 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:04.159 whatever time I'm gone. 157 00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:08.879 Before the end of the week, he had arranged all 158 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:12.320 the necessary papers and had left London. I haven't heard 159 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:13.759 a word from him since his law. 160 00:10:13.799 --> 00:10:14.440 I presume me. 161 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:18.840 Somewhere in Switzerland. Actually, however, I haven't the faintest idea 162 00:10:18.919 --> 00:10:20.879 where mister Bell may be. Right at this. 163 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:33.840 Moment on the glacier, minutes pass and the shadows grow 164 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:36.000 longer from the jagged peaks to the west of a 165 00:10:36.039 --> 00:10:39.720 Shaliach and reach out with dark fingers toward the man 166 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:44.799 who clings to the icy wall. The man's thoughts have 167 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:47.399 grown as unwilly as the heavy ice axe gripped in 168 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:51.080 his hand. He keeps trying to remember that he is 169 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:55.519 Christopher Bell, a human being, and not a part of 170 00:10:55.559 --> 00:11:00.240 this free and empty space, for he knows if he 171 00:11:00.279 --> 00:11:06.240 stops remembering that he may forget or else too, and 172 00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:09.960 then let go. 173 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:20.120 There's been no reason for trying to locate mister Bell, 174 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:23.240 since nothing of very importance has occurred during these three weeks. 175 00:11:23.799 --> 00:11:28.440 I'm sure he's quite all right. Only one thing still 176 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:32.039 puzzles me a bit, the remarkable change in him on 177 00:11:32.120 --> 00:11:35.039 that morning three weeks ago. I'd never heard him talk 178 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:39.759 like that before, and whatever the reason for it, I'm 179 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:42.519 quite sure it was something that happened that morning before 180 00:11:42.679 --> 00:11:45.600 he came to the office. 181 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:55.480 My name is John Oxford. I've been a conductor on 182 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:58.840 the Westminster route for some fourteen years, nah, and during 183 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:01.840 all that time, mister Bell has been a daily passenger 184 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:05.240 of mine on the early morning inbound run. As I 185 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:09.480 recall it, the first time anything you might say, whoa added. 186 00:12:09.559 --> 00:12:12.480 The way ever happened between us was one morning, about 187 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:15.559 three weeks ago. I saw mister Bell waiting at the 188 00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:18.000 usual place, so I signaled the driver to a stop. 189 00:12:21.879 --> 00:12:23.360 Good morning, Good morning, mister Bell. 190 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:24.960 I'll be right. 191 00:12:25.480 --> 00:12:28.000 Yeah, let me come down and help you up, sir, and. 192 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:30.559 I make it if you'll just take my arm as 193 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:32.799 touched my arm please. 194 00:12:32.679 --> 00:12:35.320 But I have taken it, mister Bell. 195 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:36.960 Oh, yes, of course I've signed. 196 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:43.559 We go here, we answer, thank you. 197 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:47.240 I had a bit of a shock this morning. 198 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:48.759 I'm cut all right now. 199 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:51.639 Well, if it's all right now, then it's fine. I'd 200 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:53.799 say you take hold of that strap there. 201 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:57.399 Oh, yes, of course, just a moment. I have the 202 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:02.799 fair hair somewhere. Oh, yes, here you are, Thank you, sir. No, no, 203 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:07.080 thank you, will I I don't quite understand what you mean, sir. 204 00:13:07.320 --> 00:13:10.000 Mister Huxford, have you ever had anyone take your arm 205 00:13:10.039 --> 00:13:11.480 and help you up a flight of steps? 206 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:14.080 No, and I might say, yo, the day never comes 207 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:18.399 when I well, uh, oh, I'm sun. 208 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:19.120 Not at all. 209 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:21.840 Thank you, mister Hoxford, Thank you very much. 210 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:27.759 I don't rightly know what was wrong with him, though 211 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:30.960 it's certain that something was because I haven't seen him 212 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:33.960 for nearly three weeks. Huh. I can't imagine what it 213 00:13:34.039 --> 00:13:36.759 might have been that happened to him that morning before 214 00:13:36.759 --> 00:13:42.080 he got on the bus. 215 00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:46.840 My name is Jenkins, and I've been mister Bell's personal 216 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:50.200 valet for the past twelve years and seven months. The 217 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:53.000 Master is traveling somewhere on the content of just at 218 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:57.720 present being gone something over two weeks now decided rather suddenly, 219 00:13:57.799 --> 00:14:01.559 I believe. In fact, I I think something happened one 220 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:04.240 morning about three weeks ago that caused him to make 221 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:07.440 up his mind. Though I rarely haven't the faintest idea 222 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:10.879 of what it might have been. I can remember noticing 223 00:14:10.919 --> 00:14:12.960 a very strange look on his face when he came 224 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:15.840 down to breakfast that morning, but I thought nothing of 225 00:14:15.879 --> 00:14:16.519 it at the time. 226 00:14:17.799 --> 00:14:20.600 Good Good morning, Jenkins, Good morning, sir. 227 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:23.000 I trust you had a pleasant night's rest. 228 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:25.759 Yes, yes I did, Thanks Jenkins. 229 00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:28.960 You'll be having the usual orange juice toasts. 230 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:31.440 No, no, no, no, I want nothing except for coffee. 231 00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:33.440 Very well, sir, I'll bring it right away. 232 00:14:35.399 --> 00:14:38.159 I can't let him find out. I can't let anyone 233 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:41.240 find out about it. Maybe it's a little better now, 234 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:44.879 Maybe it's going away. Maybe I'm giving it too much importance. 235 00:14:46.039 --> 00:14:50.000 No, it's still there, that same lack of feeling clear 236 00:14:50.120 --> 00:14:51.759 down the whole right side of my body. 237 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:55.519 There. I can move my arms, my leg all right, 238 00:14:56.200 --> 00:15:01.000 there's no feeling in them. They're numb. Simply that, at 239 00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:04.360 fifty two years of age, I've had a light stroke. 240 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:10.480 You're coffee, sir, Oh, thank you. Would you care for 241 00:15:10.519 --> 00:15:11.399 something more, sir? 242 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:14.559 No, no, that's all, If you. 243 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:17.480 Pardon me, sir. You don't seem quite yourself this morning. 244 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:19.000 I do hope you're not ill. 245 00:15:19.080 --> 00:15:20.720 Oh no, no, I'm quite all right, tickets. 246 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:23.840 I hope you won't mind my saying this, mister Bell, 247 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:27.039 but you don't take very good care of yourself anymore. 248 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:30.279 Been years now since you had a check up, sir, 249 00:15:30.679 --> 00:15:32.480 not since the mistress passed away. 250 00:15:32.519 --> 00:15:35.600 In fact, I'm quite all right, Jenkins, I'm quite all right. 251 00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:40.440 Then. I'm relieved to hear it, sir. I'll bring your paper. 252 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:42.840 Now, Good lord. 253 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:45.879 Is this what a man slaves his life away for? 254 00:15:46.039 --> 00:15:50.200 To end up helpless, dependent upon others, to be wheeled about, 255 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:54.279 put out in the sun, taken in like some great 256 00:15:54.440 --> 00:16:01.679 fat larva. It was disgusting, But to face it, this 257 00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:04.519 stroke is the first warning. And there'll be others, worse ones, 258 00:16:05.320 --> 00:16:07.279 and in a short time I'll be helpless. 259 00:16:08.039 --> 00:16:13.080 Oh there must be some way out. Not suicide, but 260 00:16:13.240 --> 00:16:24.240 some way. There's got to be some way. 261 00:16:24.600 --> 00:16:29.279 The icy wall hardens in the cold, vitreous steel, as 262 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:33.440 the dust born shadows chill its surface. The merciless ice 263 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:36.000 is beginning to freeze the cramped joints of the man's 264 00:16:36.039 --> 00:16:40.879 fingers now, and the heavy act swings idly at his belt, 265 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:44.960 tracing a fumbling pattern on the thin air of the void. 266 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:49.399 How much longer now can he cling to those slots 267 00:16:49.399 --> 00:16:53.639 in the glacier's face? How much longer does he have 268 00:16:53.759 --> 00:17:01.000 to live? Thirty seconds a minute? Wat's the margin of safety? 269 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:01.480 Now? 270 00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:05.960 And what does a man think of while his pulse 271 00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:10.799 beats slower and he waits? 272 00:17:11.319 --> 00:17:12.240 Do die? 273 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:17.480 Strange? 274 00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:19.960 How I am able to go on hanging to this slope, 275 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:23.880 clinging on to life when I can't feel another ounce 276 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:24.759 of strength. 277 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:24.920 Left in me? 278 00:17:26.279 --> 00:17:29.759 I's right, Dying isn't so bad, really, not when it's 279 00:17:29.880 --> 00:17:31.319 like this rather pleasant. 280 00:17:31.319 --> 00:17:35.519 In fact, look so soft down there, the shadows and. 281 00:17:35.559 --> 00:17:38.000 The snow and the wind. 282 00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:40.119 Perhaps I could let go and float out in the 283 00:17:40.119 --> 00:17:42.559 wind like an eagle, be blown along by it, like 284 00:17:42.640 --> 00:17:43.440 drifting snow. 285 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:49.720 Oh, the sun's gone now full dark in a few minutes. 286 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:53.400 Maybe I can hold on that long till everything is dark, 287 00:17:53.559 --> 00:17:54.759 even the snow in the ice. 288 00:17:55.480 --> 00:17:56.039 Who knows. 289 00:17:57.319 --> 00:18:00.240 Perhaps I'll watch the sunrise tomorrow and set again. 290 00:18:00.839 --> 00:18:01.880 And even beyond it. 291 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:07.160 Oh no, no, I can't last even one full minute longer. 292 00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:08.319 I'm through. 293 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:09.119 I've finished. 294 00:18:09.160 --> 00:18:10.720 I can't even the mast a half. 295 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:11.960 A minute mm hmm. 296 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:16.759 Chips of ice sliding over the edge. Funny how a 297 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:20.200 glacier sheds off that way? And I suppose the difference 298 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:24.119 in temperature between day and ray. 299 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:26.400 An ice axe. 300 00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:29.319 That was an axe, no other sound in the world 301 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:32.960 like it fell from up above the overhang there. There 302 00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:35.519 must be somebody up there on the slopes coming down 303 00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:36.480 from the top. 304 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:39.960 There is. 305 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:50.000 Wait, that's five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. 306 00:18:54.200 --> 00:18:56.839 That's a mountaineers call for help. Someone dropped his axe 307 00:18:56.839 --> 00:18:57.720 and he's in trouble up there. 308 00:18:58.240 --> 00:18:59.480 It's right above his bulge. 309 00:19:00.119 --> 00:19:01.079 If I can only. 310 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:09.680 No notes too dry? Well, six small steps to cut 311 00:19:09.720 --> 00:19:11.839 to reach the edge there, all right? 312 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:20.599 Six steps? No, five. 313 00:19:22.279 --> 00:19:35.400 Step just about doesn't the last step. 314 00:19:36.839 --> 00:19:37.559 Cut off? 315 00:19:38.119 --> 00:19:40.839 And let me go there's no use. 316 00:19:44.279 --> 00:19:44.839 It's a woman. 317 00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:49.039 Hold on there, happy with you in a minute. 318 00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:52.799 Somebody timing. 319 00:19:55.359 --> 00:19:55.599 Here? 320 00:19:57.480 --> 00:20:05.000 Oh the edge, Take it easy there, everything's going to 321 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:05.480 be all right. 322 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:06.359 Oh. 323 00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:12.680 I don't know where you came from. Thank Heaven, you're here. 324 00:20:13.400 --> 00:20:14.000 Easy enough. 325 00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:16.200 Let's get to step out for your feet here. 326 00:20:17.240 --> 00:20:19.599 I was just below the overhang there. 327 00:20:20.119 --> 00:20:21.160 Heard the follow up above. 328 00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:23.440 Call out. He's got quite a voice on him. 329 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:24.960 It's my husband. 330 00:20:25.400 --> 00:20:27.160 Oh please hurry easy enough. 331 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:29.880 I'm gonna step out here in a second. You can 332 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:30.880 put your feet on it. 333 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:34.279 You get your breath, then we'll tackle the slope and 334 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:36.599 I'll just scraped through. 335 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:37.359 His ice away. 336 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:38.920 Easy. 337 00:20:39.960 --> 00:20:40.759 Oh that's better. 338 00:20:41.480 --> 00:20:45.839 Yes, Oh, you're all right now. You just lean there 339 00:20:46.279 --> 00:20:48.000 and when you feel like it will go on up. 340 00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:51.279 Oh my name is Christopher Belt, by the way. 341 00:20:51.960 --> 00:20:56.960 I'm and a god. Oh thank you. I thought we 342 00:20:56.960 --> 00:20:57.359 were done. 343 00:20:58.079 --> 00:21:00.160 I was cutting steps down ahead in the slope and 344 00:21:01.079 --> 00:21:04.079 I slipped and dropped my axe. 345 00:21:04.920 --> 00:21:06.319 Neither of us dared to move. 346 00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:09.799 You're all right now. Soon as you rest a minute, 347 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:12.839 we'll cut some more steps back up the slope. No, 348 00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:15.680 you shouldn't have started down this way. You'd never have 349 00:21:15.720 --> 00:21:17.359 been able to pass that bowl. 350 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:19.799 Yes, I can see that now. 351 00:21:20.680 --> 00:21:23.279 Of course, it's it's harder to tell when you're moving 352 00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:24.200 down slope. 353 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:25.480 Yes, I suppose it is. 354 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:29.839 You. You were coming up the slope, weren't you. 355 00:21:30.119 --> 00:21:33.680 Yes, I came up from the foot alone. 356 00:21:33.240 --> 00:21:38.680 And without a rope, and you deliberately climb onto the 357 00:21:38.759 --> 00:21:41.079 underside of an overhanging wall. 358 00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:44.440 Let's just say we're both fool hard. 359 00:21:45.720 --> 00:21:46.720 Is that what you call it? 360 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:52.480 Well, if you've got your breath back, now, suppose we 361 00:21:52.680 --> 00:22:00.240 start up the slope. 362 00:22:03.720 --> 00:22:06.200 My name is Theodore Gullen, and I am the husband 363 00:22:06.200 --> 00:22:07.720 of the woman who slipped and fell on the wall 364 00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:11.960 of the glacier. I'm a physician, formerly of Harley Street, London. 365 00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:14.680 I've practiced in Paris for several years now. 366 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:17.960 I met mister Bell when he and my wife. 367 00:22:17.799 --> 00:22:19.559 Reached the ice ledge where I stood. 368 00:22:19.319 --> 00:22:20.920 Waiting about them. 369 00:22:21.559 --> 00:22:24.480 I was not immediately aware of his trouble, but found 370 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:26.960 out about it a short time later when we reached 371 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:29.640 the rest had at the top of the ridge. While 372 00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:31.759 my wife heated water for tea at the far side 373 00:22:31.799 --> 00:22:34.400 of the room, Bell and I fell into a much 374 00:22:34.440 --> 00:22:39.599 more personal conversation than strangers normally do. This sometimes happens 375 00:22:39.640 --> 00:22:41.759 when people have been very close to death. 376 00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:52.319 At any rate, Doctor Gollan, you can see ours. A 377 00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:55.000 life of an invalid doesn't seem very appealing to me. 378 00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:58.720 He tear me something. Mister Bell, I gather you were 379 00:22:58.759 --> 00:23:00.480 pretty well done in when I call out that in 380 00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:04.599 a glacier couldn't have to hand. Then how do you 381 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:07.200 account for being able to chop six steps into that 382 00:23:07.279 --> 00:23:09.759 ice in a matter of some five minutes. 383 00:23:11.160 --> 00:23:13.880 I don't know exactly I was through. 384 00:23:14.359 --> 00:23:17.000 I couldn't have lasted thirty seconds or more. But when 385 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:19.519 I realized somebody was in danger, I forgot about it. 386 00:23:19.720 --> 00:23:22.640 And this numbness, this lack of feeling in your right side, 387 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:23.960 didn't bother you. 388 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:25.440 No, I didn't notice. 389 00:23:26.039 --> 00:23:27.960 It isn't quite so bad even now. 390 00:23:28.839 --> 00:23:30.200 Here's your answer, mister Bell. 391 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:32.759 I don't believe I follow you action. 392 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:36.759 When you were in action, working because you had a reason, 393 00:23:37.400 --> 00:23:41.119 living because you had to, because somebody was depending on you. 394 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:44.799 Then you were all right. Everything was back in its 395 00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:45.359 place again. 396 00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:48.759 Perhaps, but a man can't spend all his time timbing 397 00:23:48.839 --> 00:23:49.400 up a mountain. 398 00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:51.680 Oh, I don't mean physical action. 399 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:55.640 Movement got it incentive if you like, Maybe that's a 400 00:23:55.640 --> 00:23:56.519 better way to put it. 401 00:23:56.519 --> 00:23:57.119