in spite of himself, he turned his head and looked down.

The view was so appalling, as he clung there, that a low hoarse sigh
escaped him; his nerves tingled; a curious sensation ran up his spine,
and as he wrenched his head away from the sight which fascinated him, he
closed his eyes.

A tug at the rope roused him, and brought him back to himself, just as
Dale was pressing forward into the gash in the rock, ready to seize him
as he fell.

"Come, herr," Melchior shouted, from his invisible resting-place. "Are
you at that bit of sticking-out rock? Come along: it's very easy."

Saxe raised his arms, which had felt nerveless the moment before, took a
fresh hold, and began to climb desperately. The first movements were
horrible, and he felt the creeping sensation of horror once more, and
stopped, clinging hard, thinking that he could do no more; but the rope
was against his face, and as it vibrated he knew that even if he slipped
it would hold him, and the cold, dank sensation passed away again as he
got a good foothold and was helped by the strain on the rope; and just
while he was saying to himself, "I shall never do it--I shall never do
it!" a great hand seized the rope round his chest, and he was drawn
right on to a rocky platform, where Melchior was seated with his legs
widely apart, and his heels against two projecting corners.

"Well done, herr!" cried the guide, laughing, as he proceeded to untie
the rope: "you and I will do some of the big peaks yet."

Saxe said nothing, but seated himself twenty feet farther up the rock,
with his heels planted in the same way as the guide's, and letting the
rope pass through his hands as it was gathered into rings.

"Ready, herr!" shouted Melchior.

"Yes," came from below; and the rope was thrown over the edge.

"Make it fast round your waist, herr," cried Melchior; and then, turning
to Saxe, he said, with a smile meant to inspire confidence, "We can pull
him up if he likes."

"Now!" came from below.

"Ready," shouted the guide; and then to Saxe--"Pull as I pull, herr,
steady and strong, always keeping a tight grip, in case of a slip. It
gives him confidence."

Saxe nodded; the rope was kept tight, and drawn in foot by foot, till,
just as the lad was thinking of what a tremendous jerk it would be if
Dale slipped, the latter's head appeared above the rock, with his
ice-axe projecting over his shoulder, it having worked up in the
climbing till it threatened to es