g with his legs in the
endeavor to find a brace for his feet. He was clinging to a bush
that seemed to be growing from the face of the precipice, and which
Hugh could see was slowly but surely giving way, one root after
another losing its grip in the soil and rocky crevices.

Hugh recognized the imperiled boy instantly, though utterly amazed at
his discovery; he could not understand for the life of him how Claude
Jardine, of all fellows in Scranton, could be placed in such a
dreadful predicament.

But Hugh did not waste a single precious second in trying to solve that
puzzle; it could be all made plain after he had managed to save the
poor chap.

"Stop kicking, and keep perfectly still, Claude!" he instantly called.

"But it's going to give way, and let me drop!" wailed the terrified boy.

"It'll do that all the sooner if you keep moving as you are," Hugh told
him sharply, with the tone of authority that one accustomed to command
might use. "I'm coming down after you, so don't be afraid. Can you
hold on just ten seconds more?"

"I'll try to, but, oh! hurry, please!" came the trembling answer.

Already Hugh was passing over the edge. He took care not to make a
false movement, for the precipice was all of forty feet in depth, and
a fall on the rocks below was bound to be a serious matter.

To lower himself to where the imperiled boy clung he had to take
advantage of numerous projecting points of rock that offered him a
foothold, or a place where he could hang on with his hands.

Hugh was as nimble as any boy in Scranton, which fact proved of great
advantage to him just then. Had it been otherwise, he might have
himself fallen, and there would then have been a double tragedy.

Somehow, through Hugh's mind flashed the memory of how Claude's doting
mother had always, on every occasion, condemned all athletic exercises
that were intended to build up the muscles, and give new power to the
body. It seemed the irony of fate that the life of her precious boy
was now going to hang upon the ability of Hugh Morgan to sustain
himself, and the weight of another, there upon the face of that rocky
precipice!

Perhaps in times to come Mrs. Jardine would discover how false her
ideas were, and experience a radical change of heart. The opportunity
which Hugh had once sighed for had come to him in a most wonderful way.

He succeeded in making his way down in safety, though once he slipped,
and had a thrill of alarm pass o