nd in the corner between the wall and the roof was a
rough arch too wide for my body to jam itself in. Just below the level
of the roof--say two feet--I saw the submerged spike of rock. The
waters raged around it, and could not have been more than an inch deep
on the top. If I could only get my foot on that I believed I could
avoid being swept down, and stand up and reach for the wall above the
cave.

But how to get to it? It was no good delaying, for my frail holds
might give at any moment. In any case I would have the moral security
of the rope, so I passed it through a fairly staunch pin close to the
roof, which had an upward tilt that almost made a ring of it. One end
of the rope was round my body, the other was loose in my hand, and I
paid it out as I moved. Moral support is something. Very gingerly I
crawled like a fly along the wall, my fingers now clutching at a tiny
knob, now clawing at a crack which did little more than hold my nails.
It was all hopeless insanity, and yet somehow I did it. The rope and
the nearness of the roof gave me confidence and balance. Then the holds
ceased altogether a couple of yards from the water. I saw my spike of
rock a trifle below me. There was nothing for it but to risk all on a
jump. I drew the rope out of the hitch, twined the slack round my
waist, and leaped for the spike.

It was like throwing oneself on a line of spears. The solid wall of
water hurled me back and down, but as I fell my arms closed on the
spike. There I hung while my feet were towed outwards by the volume of
the stream as if they had been dead leaves. I was half-stunned by the
shock of the drip on my head, but I kept my wits, and presently got my
face outside the falling sheet and breathed.

To get to my feet and stand on the spike while all the fury of water
was plucking at me was the hardest physical effort I have ever made.
It had to be done very circumspectly, for a slip would send me into the
abyss. If I moved an arm or leg an inch too near the terrible dropping
wall I knew I should be plucked from my hold. I got my knees on the
outer face of the spike, so that all my body was removed as far as
possible from the impact of the water. Then I began to pull myself
slowly up.

I could not do it. If I got my feet on the rock the effort would bring
me too far into the water, and that meant destruction. I saw this
clearly in a second while my wrists were cracking with the strain. But
if