one by one, appealing for aid
only to the whole of our personal courage. But the courage of many of us
was gone on an unlimited furlough. The position of our American colonel
was the worst, for he was very stout and short-sighted, which defects,
taken together, caused him frequent vertigos. To keep up our spirits
we indulged in a choral performance of the duet from Norma, "Moriam'
insieme," holding each other's hands the while, to ensure our being
spared by death or dying all four in company. But the colonel did not
fail to frighten us nearly out of our lives. We were already half way up
to the cave when he made a false step, staggered, lost hold of my hand,
and rolled over the edge. We three, having to clutch the bushes and
stones, were quite unable to help him. A unanimous cry of horror escaped
us, but died away as we perceived that he had succeeded in clinging to
the trunk of a small tree, which grew on the slope a few steps below
us. Fortunately, we knew that the colonel was good at athletics, and
remarkably cool in danger. Still the moment was a critical one. The
slender stem of the tree might give way at any moment. Our cries of
distress were answered by the sudden appearance of the mysterious Sadhu
with his cow.

They were quietly walking along about twenty feet below us, on such
invisible projections of the rock that a child's foot could barely have
found room to rest there, and they both traveled as calmly, and even
carelessly, as if a comfortable causeway were beneath their feet,
instead of a vertical rock. The Sadhu called out to the colonel to hold
on, and to us to keep quiet. He patted the neck of his monstrous cow,
and untied the rope by which he was leading her. Then, with both hands
he turned her head in our direction, and clucking with his tongue, he
cried "Chal!" (go). With a few wild goat-like bounds the animal reached
our path, and stood before us motion-less. A for the Sadhu himself, his
movements were as swift and as goat-like. In a moment he had reached the
tree, tied the rope round the colonel's body, and put him on his legs
again; then, rising higher, with one effort of his strong hand he
hoisted him up to the path. Our colonel was with us once more, rather
pale, and with the loss of his pince-nez, but not of his presence of
mind.

An adventure that had threatened to become a tragedy ended in a farce.

"What is to be done now?" was our unanimous inquiry. "We cannot let you
go alone any furth