more secure about his waist;
then once in a while he would ease the strain by lifting a little with a
hand above his head. He shifted the rope until the noose came closer
under his arms, realizing that he must not exhaust his strength in
trying to raise his weight hand over hand. Thus, after the first few
minutes of fright and after he had dared to open his eyes and take stock
of the dangerous plight in which he found himself, he began calmly to
reason, as very often one will who finds himself in imminent peril, the
situation being too serious to allow him time for fright.

Skookie sat down apathetically on the rocks and made no move. "Get up
there, Skookie!" said Jesse. "Why do you act like a dummy? Nobody is
dead yet. We're going to haul him up; don't you see? Now get hold of the
rope--all of us; now, all together!"

They lifted as hard as they could, but, do their best, they could gain
almost nothing on the rope. Little as that was, Rob felt it down below
and knew that they were trying to save him.

"Now what shall we do?" John asked Jesse, in distress. "If we can't pull
him up--and maybe we'd cut the rope on the rocks trying to do that--why,
then, how is he going to get out of that?"

Skookie, seeing that they had but little success in lifting the heavy
weight at the other end of the rope, now, without any orders, tried a
plan of his own. Passing along the edge of the rim of rock off to the
right, he found a place where he could descend for at least a short
distance. He disappeared below, but presently came back, his face
lighted up with the first sign of hope it had shown.

"Dis way!" he said; "dis way!" and made motions that they should pull
on the rope and shift it to the right as far as they were able. The
young native's sharp eyes had seen that if Rob could get to a place a
little farther at one side than where he hung, he could get his feet
against the rock, and so, perhaps, help himself more than otherwise
would be possible.

A little consultation followed at the top of the rock, then inch by inch
the boys edged the rope along. Rob found himself, without any effort of
his own, gradually approaching the face of the rock. At last he could
kick it; and so he helped himself, pendulum fashion, until finally he
got a hand on a rocky point, and so could rest his weight on the rough
surface. To him even this vantage-ground seemed as if it were actual
safety, so much better was it than swinging helpless like a f