Over the Stelvio Pass Page #4

"Over the Stelvio Pass" by Robert Barr is a captivating travelogue that chronicles the author's adventurous journey through the stunning landscapes of the Stelvio Pass, one of the highest mountain passes in the Alps. Blending personal anecdotes with vivid descriptive passages, Barr explores the rich culture, breathtaking vistas, and challenges of traversing this iconic route. The book combines elements of adventure, exploration, and a deep appreciation for nature, making it a delightful read for anyone who enjoys travel literature and the allure of the great outdoors.

• Short story

								

chapel of the Three Holy Springs, a mile below the Weisse Knott; we'll
fly through the air to it, Tina, and our bed will be at the foot of
the Madatseh Glacier. We will go over together near where the man threw
his wife down. They have marked the spot with a marble slab, but they
will put a bigger one for us, Tina, for there's two of us."

Tina crouched in the corner of the carriage and watched the face of the
Italian as if she were fascinated. She wanted to jump out as her
husband had done, but she was afraid to move, feeling certain that if
she attempted to escape Pietro would pounce down upon her. He looked
like some wild beast crouching for a spring. All at once she saw
something drop from the sky on the footboard of the carriage. Then she
heard her husband's voice ring out--

"Here, you young fool, we've had enough of this nonsense."

The next moment Pietro fell to the road, propelled by a vigorous kick.
His position lent itself to treatment of that kind. The carriage gave a
bump as it passed over Pietro's leg, and then Tina thinks that she
fainted in earnest, for the next thing she knew the carriage was
standing still, and Standish was rubbing her hands and calling her
pleasant names. She smiled wanly at him.

"How in the world did you catch up to the carriage and it going so
fast?" she asked, a woman's curiosity prompting her first words.

"Oh, the villain forgot about the short cuts. As I warned him, he ought
to have paid more attention to what was going on outside. I'm going
back now to have a talk with him. He's lying on the road at the upper
end of this slope."

Tina was instantly herself again.

"No, dearest," she said caressingly; "you mustn't go back. He probably
has a knife."

"I'm not afraid."

"No, but I am, and you mustn't leave me."

"I would like to tie him up in a hard knot and take him down to
civilisation bumping behind the carriage as luggage. I think he's the
fellow who knifed me, and I want to find out what his game is."

Here Tina unfortunately began to faint again. She asked for wine in a
far-off voice, and Standish at once forgot all about the demon driver.
He mounted the box and took the reins himself. He got wine at the
little cabin of the Weisse Knott, a mile or two farther down. Tina, who
had revived amazingly, probably on account of the motion of the
carriage, shuddered as she looked into the awful gulf and saw five tiny
toy houses in the gloom nearly a mile below.

"That," said Standish, "is the chapel of the Three Holy Springs. We
will go there to-night, if you like, from Trefoi."

"No, no!" cried Tina, shivering. "Let us get out of the mountains at
once."

At Trefoi they found their own driver awaiting them.

"What the devil are you doing here, and how did you get here?" hotly
inquired Standish.

"By the short cuts," replied the bewildered man. "Pietro, one of
master's old drivers, wanted--I don't know why--to drive you as far as
Trefoi. Where is he, sir?"

"I don't know," said Standish. "We saw nothing of him. He must have
been pushed off the box by the madman. Here, jump up and let us get
on."

Tina breathed again. That crisis was over.

They live very happily together, for Tina is a very tactful little
woman.
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