“On Chimborazo we never roped one another to cross crevasses.”
The delegates looked at one another. As a tarasconade that remark
surpassed them all.
“Oh, _that_ Bompard, _pas mouain_...” murmured Pascalon, with ingenuous
admiration.
But père Baltet, taking Chimborazo seriously, protested against the
practice of not roping. According to him, no ascension over ice was
possible without a rope, a good rope of Manila hemp; then, if one
slipped, the others could hold him.
“Unless the rope breaks, Monsieur Baltet,” said Tartarin, remembering
the catastrophe on the Matterhorn.
But the landlord, weighing his words, replied:
“The rope did not break on the Matterhorn... the rear guide cut it with
a blow of his axe...”