ung to him like
ivy to a tree, and he desisted from his efforts, fearing lest he should
cause their sledge to alter its course.

On the very top of the rise the motion of the stone decreased almost to
nothingness, then little by little increased once more as they traversed
a short sharp dip, the same in which they had lost sight of Otter, to
be succeeded by a gentle rise. So far, though exciting and novel, their
journey had been comparatively safe, for the path was broad and the ice
perfectly smooth. Its terrors were to come.

Looking forward, Leonard saw that they were at the commencement of a
decline measuring four or five hundred yards in length, and so steep
that, even had it offered a good foothold, human beings could scarcely
have stood upon it. As yet the tongue of ice was fifty paces or more
in width, but it narrowed rapidly as it fell, till at length near the
opposite shore of the ravine, it fined away to a point like that of a
great white needle, and then seemed to break off altogether.

Now they were well under way, and now they sped down the steep green ice
at a pace that can hardly be imagined, though perhaps it is sometimes
equalled by an eagle rushing on its quarry from some vast height of
air. Indeed it is possible that the sensations of an eagle making his
headlong descent and those of Leonard may have been very similar, with
the important exception that the bird feels no fear, whereas absolute
terror are the only words wherewith to describe the mental state of the
man. So smooth was the ice and so precipitous its pitch that he felt
as though he were falling through space, unsupported by anything, for
travelling at that speed the friction of the stone was imperceptible.
Only the air shrieked as they clove it, and Juanna's long tresses, torn
by it from their fastenings, streamed out behind her like a veil.

Down they went, still down; half--two-thirds of the distance was done,
then he looked again and saw the horror that lay before them. Already
the bridge was narrow, barely the width of a small room; sixty yards
further on it tapered to so fine a point that their stone would almost
cover its breadth, and beneath it on either side yawned that unmeasured
gulf wherein Nam was lost with the jewels. Nor was this all, for at its
narrowest _the ice band was broken away for a space of ten or twelve
feet_, to continue on the further side of the gap for a few yards at
a somewhat lower level, and then run upwar