ly on a
cord. When his weight was taken from the rope those above at first
thought that he had fallen to the foot of the cliff; but now he gave the
signal of three short jerks, and they saw that he must have reached some
place where he could support his weight. At this they broke out into a
shout of joy.

"Now, what will we do?" asked Jesse, thoughtfully. "We won't pull up
until he signals us again, I guess. Maybe he will try to come up
himself, steadying himself by the rope, the way he went down. I wish we
could see where he is."

This chance counsel of Jesse's was precisely the best thing that could
have happened, for Rob had now determined to help himself by climbing up
the rope hand over hand in the attempt to reach the ledge from which he
had fallen. How he was going to get over the edge he could not clearly
see, but he was now convinced that the friction on the rope was such
that his friends could not haul him up, and that if he were saved he
must save himself by getting above that projecting edge.

Slowly he began to feel his way up the rock, supporting his weight as
much as possible without the use of the rope, until, half leaning
against the rock and half pulling on the rope, which was now shifted to
a point directly above his head, he reached a place where he could no
longer keep in touch with the rocky face. Then bravely, as should any
one who finds himself in such straits, he swung out and rapidly began to
climb up the rope, hand over hand, sailor fashion.

He reached the edge of the rock, and perhaps might have been able in
some way to get above it without injury, although, on the other hand, he
might never have been able to get across unaided. What happened was
that the boys up above, seeing the rope again agitated and not certain
what their best course now might be, laid hold of it and began to pull
as hard as they could. The result was that Rob's left hand, just as he
reached the rim of rock, was caught under the rope. He flung his other
hand around the corner, caught the rope, and scrambled up on one knee
just as the strong heave from above tore the rope almost through his
fingers, cutting them open as they lay against the rocks.

The pain was intense, but he hardly minded that, for he saw now that he
was again in safety. From there on up the face of the rock he scrambled
on hands and knees, slipping and falling, but still going up, assisted
by the steady pull, hand over hand, of his friends, who n