ful considering the light and the
platform on which the shooter stood. It missed, but the man, astonished,
for he had never seen or heard such a thing before, stopped his sawing
for a moment, and stared at them. Then as he began again Alan fired once
more, and this time by good fortune the bullet struck the man somewhere
in the body. He fell, and as he fell grasped the nearly separated rope
and hung to it.

"Get hold of the other rope and come on," yelled Alan, and once more
they bounded forward.

"My God! it's going," he yelled again. "Hold fast, Jeekie, hold fast!"

Next instant the rope parted and the man vanished. The bridge tipped
over, and supported by the remaining rope, hung edgeways up. To this
rope the three of them clung desperately, resting their feet upon the
edge of the swaying plank. For a few seconds they remained thus, afraid
to stir, then Jeekie called out:

"Climb on, Major, climb on like one monkey. Look bad, but quite safe
really."

As there was nothing else to be done Alan began to climb, shifting his
feet along the plank edge and his hands along the rope, which creaked
and stretched beneath their threefold weight.

It was a horrible journey, and in his imagination took at least an hour.
Yet they accomplished it, for at last they found themselves huddled
together but safe upon the further bank. The sweat pouring down from
his head almost blinded Alan; a deadly nausea worked within him, sickly
tremors shot up and down his spine; his brain swam. Yet he could hear
Jeekie, in whom excitement always took the form of speech, saying
loudly:

"Think that man no liar what say our great papas was monkeys. Never look
down on monkey no more. Wake up, Major, those priests monkey-men too,
for we all brothers, you know. Wait a bit, I stop their little game,"
and springing up with three or four cuts of the big curved knife, he
severed the remaining rope just as their pursuers reached the further
side of the chasm.

They shouted with rage as the long bridge swung back against the rock,
the cut end of it falling into the torrent, and waved their spears
threateningly. To this demonstration Jeekie replied with gestures
of contempt such as are known to street Arabs. Then he looked at the
Mungana, who lay upon the ground a melancholy and dilapidated spectacle,
for the perspiration had washed lines of paint off his face and patches
of dye from his hair, also his gorgeous robes were water-stained and
his gem ne