is_. A ruin, but not quite; for, as the course
of a landslip will often tower with great spires and pinnacles of rock
and ragged earth that have withstood the pull and onset of the moving
hill-side, so here a high sheet of shattered wall, crowned with a cluster
of toppling chimneys, stood up stark in the midst of the general
overthrow. And there aloft, clinging to the crumbling stack, that might
at any moment part, and fling and crush him into the savage ruin below,
stood the figure of a solitary man. And the man was my friend of the
Parade, Jack Curtice.

I could see and recognise him plainly--even the frantic clutch of his
hands and the deadly pallor of his face.

The block--an ancient one--had been, as I afterwards learned, in course
of demolition when the catastrophe took place. At the moment the poor
fellow had been alone at his work, and now his destruction seemed a mere
matter of seconds.

White dust rose from the heap, like smoke from an extinguished fire; and
ever, as we looked, spars and splinters of brick tore away from the high
fragment yet standing, and plunged with a thud into the wrack underneath.

It was glaringly evident that not long could elapse before wall and man
would come down with a hideous, shattering run. A slip, a wilder clutch
at his frail support, might in an instant precipitate the calamity.

Then from the upturned faces of the women cries of pity and anguish broke
forth, and men nipped one another's arms and gasped, and knew not what
counsel to offer.

"Do summut! do summut!" cried the women; and their mates only shook off
their pleadings with a peevish show of callousness, that was merely the
dumb anguish of undemonstrativeness. For, while their throats were thick,
their practical brains were busy.

Some one suggested a ladder, and in a moment there was an aimless
scurrying and turning amongst the women.

"Why don't 'ee stir theeself and hunt for un, Jarge?" panted one that
stood near me, twisting hysterically upon a slow youth at her side.

"Shut up, 'Liza!" he answered gruffly; then, with a sort of indrawn
gasp--"Look art the wall, lass--look art the wall!"

It was obvious to the least knowing what he meant. To lean so much as a
broomstick, it seemed, against that tottering ruin would infallibly
complete its destruction.

One foot of the clinging figure high up was seen to move slightly, and a
little bomb of mortar span out into the air and burst into dust on a
projecting b