d would
relent in his severity when he knew that he had suffered too; that he
was in great pain even at this moment.

But not a word came from Barney.

"I hed laid off ter ax ye ter holp me a little," Nick faltered meekly,
making his appeal direct.

There was no answer.

It was so still that the boy, high up on the sandstone pillar, could
hear the wind rising among the far spurs west of Goliath. The foliage
near at hand was ominously quiet in the sultry air. Once there was a
flash of lightning from the black clouds, followed by a low muttering
of thunder. Then all was still again,--so still!

Nick raised himself upon his left arm, and leaned cautiously over the
verge of the ledge, peering, with starting eyes, into the darkness, and
hoping for another flash of lightning that he might see below for an
instant. A terrible suspicion had come to him. Could Barney have slipped
quietly away, leaving him to his fate?

He could see nothing in the impenetrable gloom; he could hear nothing in
the dark stillness.

Barney had not yet gone, but he was saying to himself, as he stood at
the foot of the great obelisk, that here was his revenge, far more
complete than he had dared even to hope.

He could measure out his false friend's punishment in any degree he
thought fit. He could leave him there with his broken arm and his pangs
of hunger for another day. He deserved it,--he deserved it richly. The
recollection was still very bitter to Barney of the hardships he had
endured at the hands of this boy, who asked him now for help. Why did he
not refuse it? Why should he not take the revenge he had promised
himself?

And then he knew there was danger in now trying to climb the jagged
edges of the Old Man's Chimney. His nerves were shaken by the
excitements of the day; he was fagged out by his long tramp; the wind
was beginning to surge among the trees; it might blow him from his
uncertain foothold. But when it gained more strength, might it not drive
Nick, helpless with his broken arm, from that high ledge?

As this thought crossed his mind, he tore off his hat, coat, and shoes,
and desperately began the ascent. He thought he knew every projection
and crevice and bush so well that he might have found his way
blindfolded, and guided by the sense of touch alone. But he did not lack
for light. Before he was six feet up from the ground, the clouds were
rent by a vivid flash, and an instantaneous peal of thunder woke all
the echo