granite alive and fresh.

At the farthest edge of the shelf, and eying him with savage dread,
sat the young eagle which had fallen with him. Horner noticed, with a
kind of sympathy, that even the bird, for all his wings, had not come
out of the affair without some damage; for one of its black wings was
not held up so snugly as the other. He hoped it was not broken. As he
mused vaguely upon this unimportant question, his pain so exhausted
him that he sank back and lay once more staring up at the eagles, who
were still wheeling excitedly over the nest. In an exhaustion that was
partly sleep and partly coma, his eyes closed. When he opened them
again, the sun was hours lower and far advanced towards the west, so
that the ledge was in shadow. His head was now perfectly clear; and
his first thought was of getting himself back to the canoe. With
excruciating effort he dragged himself to the edge of the terrace and
looked down. The descent, at this point, was all but perpendicular for
perhaps a hundred feet. In full possession of his powers, he would
find it difficult enough. In his present state he saw clearly that he
might just as well throw himself over as attempt it.

Not yet disheartened, however, he dragged himself slowly towards the
other end of the terrace, where the young eagle sat watching him. As
he approached, the bird lifted his wings, as if about to launch
himself over and dare the element which he had not yet learned to
master. But one wing drooped as if injured, and he knew the attempt
would be fatal. Opening his beak angrily, he hopped away to the other
end of the terrace. But Horner was paying no heed to birds at that
moment. He was staring down the steep, and realizing that this ledge
which had proved his refuge was now his prison, and not unlikely to
become also his tomb.

Sinking back against a rock, and grinding his teeth with pain, he
strove to concentrate his attention upon the problem that confronted
him. Was he to die of thirst and hunger on this high solitude before
he could recover sufficiently to climb down? The thought stirred all
his dogged determination. He _would_ keep alive, and that was all
there was about it. He _would_ get well, and then the climbing down
would be no great matter. This point settled, he dismissed it from his
consideration and turned his thoughts to ways and means. After all,
there was that little thread of a spring trickling from the rock! He
would have enough to drink.