tform lay above the upper end of the trough, but the
last dozen feet of the approach was a very difficult bit. Gordon took
advantage of every least projection. He fought his way up with his back
against one wall and his knees pressed to the other. Three feet short of
the platform the rock walls became absolutely smooth. The climber could
reach within a foot of the top.

"Are you stopped?" asked Sheba.

"Looks that way."

A small pine projected from the edge of the shelf out over the
precipice. It might be strong enough to bear his weight. It might not.
Gordon unbuckled his belt and threw one end over the trunk of the dwarf
tree. Gingerly he tested it with his weight, then went up hand over hand
and worked himself over the edge of the little plateau.

"All right?" the girl called up.

"All right. But you can't make it. I'm coming down again."

"I'm going to try."

"I wouldn't, Miss O'Neill. It's really dangerous."

"I'd like to try it. I'll stop if it's too hard," she promised.

The strength of her slender wrists surprised him. She struggled up the
vertical crevasse inch by inch. His heart was full of fear, for a
misstep now would be fatal. He lay down with his face over the ledge and
lowered to her the buckled loop of his belt. Twice she stopped
exhausted, her back and her hands pressed against the walls of the
trough angle for support.

"Better give it up," he advised.

"I'll not then." She smiled stubbornly as she shook her head.

Presently her fingers touched the belt.

[Illustration: "SO YOU THINK I'M A 'FRAID-CAT, MR. ELLIOT?"]

Gordon edged forward an inch or two farther. "Put your hand through the
loop and catch hold of the leather above," he told her.

She did so, and at the same instant her foot slipped. The girl swung out
into space suspended by one wrist. The muscles of Elliot hardened into
steel as they responded to the strain. His body began to slide very
slowly down the incline.

In a moment the acute danger was past. Sheba had found a hold with her
feet and relieved somewhat the dead pull upon Elliot.

She had not voiced a cry, but the face that looked up into his was very
white.

"Take your time," he said in a quiet, matter-of-fact way.

With his help she came close enough for him to reach her hand. After
that it was only a moment before she knelt on the plateau beside him.

"Touch and go, wasn't it?" Sheba tried to smile, but the colorless lips
told the young man she was still f