But now we had to bear the fearful strain of
expectation, with the paralyzing knowledge that nothing that we could do
could aid us in the least. I thought that even Edmund's face paled with
fear.
On we rushed, still borne sidewise, so that the spectacle was burned into
our eyes, as, with the fascination of impending death, we gazed helpless
out of the window. Now we were upon it! Instinctively I threw myself
backward; but the blow did not come. Instead there was a wild rush of ice
crystals sweeping the thick glass.
"Look!" shouted Edmund. "We are safe! See how the particles of ice are
swept from the face of the peak by the tempest. They leap toward us, and
are then whirled round the mountain. The compacted air forms a buffer. We
may yet touch the precipice, but the wind, having free vent on both
sides, will carry us one way or the other without a serious shock."
He had hardly finished speaking, in a voice that had risen to a shriek
with the effort to make himself heard, when the crisis came. We did just
touch a projecting ridge, but the wind, howling past it, carried us in an
instant round the obstruction.
"Scared ourselves for nothing," said Edmund, in a quieter voice, as the
roar died down.
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