bris. But Haig did not know that, for his head struck a stone at the
first contact with the chute.

* * * * *

Sentience returned to him through mists of pain. He lay in a twisted
heap on a patch of grass, surrounded by the scattered detritus of the
cliff. At first he could not remember, and could not see. His head
rang with pain, and his eyes were filled with dust, and with something
wet. He managed presently to lift an arm and wipe his eyes with his
hand; and saw dimly that the hand was covered with blood. His eyes
then filled again; and he swept his sleeves across them and his
forehead. That was better. Blinking, and wiping his face again and
again, he looked dully around him until memory came back, and brought
recognition of his plight.

He tried to sit up, but sank down quickly with a groan. One leg was
bent almost double under the other, and would not move. This fact
struck him at first as very queer--an inexplicable phenomenon. Then he
tried it again. His left leg moved at his will, and that encouraged
him. His right hip and part of the thigh too moved, but the leg below
lay loose and dead.

The blood was in his eyes again. It exasperated him; he could do
nothing unless he were able to see. He wiped his face again with his
sleeve, then put his hand to his head, and winced a little as the
fingers touched a gash just above the left temple, from which the
blood still flowed. By turning his head he found that the blood ran
down away from his eyes instead of into them. The new position also
gave him a view of several things that held his attention.

First there was the clutter of stones around him. Then his eyes swept
upward to the ledge whence he had come rolling down--how far? He
calculated the distance curiously. Eighty feet--a hundred, surely. How
did he come to be still alive? he wondered. And Trixy! Where was she.

Once more he tackled the problem of sitting up, and it became easier
now in his full understanding of his condition. By ignoring the dead
leg entirely, since it was of no further use to him, he contrived to
raise himself with his hands on the ground behind him for support.
Then with a jerk that brought a cry of pain, he sat erect, swaying but
resolute. At this instant he heard a soft whinny behind him. Twisting
himself around, he saw Trixy lying some twenty feet away, with her
forelegs doubled up beneath her, and her head lifted and pointed
toward him.