tening. I dared not change my
posture--I dared not move. The weight of the Jarocho's body had
hitherto held my feet securely in the notch; but that was gone, and my
ankles were still tied. A movement and my legs might fall off the limb
and drag me downward. I was faint, too, from the protracted struggle
for life and death, and I hugged the tree and held on like a wounded
squirrel.

The shots seemed less frequent, the shouts appeared to recede from the
cliffs. Then I heard a cheer--an Anglo-Saxon cheer--an American cheer,
and the next moment a well-known voice rang in my ears.

"By the livin' catamount, he's hyur yit! Whooray--whoop! Niver say
die! Hold on, Cap'n, teeth an' toenail! Hyur, boys! clutch on, a lot
o' yer! Quick!--hook my claws, Nat! Now pull--all thegether!--Hooray!"

I felt a strong hand grasping the collar of my coat, and the next moment
I was raised from my perch and landed upon the top of the cliff.

I looked around upon my deliverers. Lincoln was dancing like a lunatic,
uttering his wild, half-Indian yells. A dozen men, in the dark-green
uniform of the "mounted rifles", stood looking on and laughing at this
grotesque exhibition. Close by another party were guarding some
prisoners, while a hundred others were seen in scattered groups along
the ridge, returning from the pursuit of the Jarochos, whom they had
completely routed.

I recognised Twing, and Hennessy, and Hillis, and several other officers
whom I had met before. We were soon _en rapport_, and I could not have
received a greater variety of congratulations had it been the hour after
my wedding.

Little Jack was the guide of the rescue.

After a moment spent in explanation with the major, I turned to look for
Lincoln. He was standing close by, holding in his hands a piece of
lazo, which he appeared to examine with a strange and puzzled
expression. He had recovered from his burst of wild joy and was
"himself again."

"What's the matter, Bob?" I inquired, noticing his bewildered look.

"Why, Cap'n, I'm a sorter bamfoozled yeer. I kin understan' well enuf
how the feller; irked yer inter the tree afore he let go. But how did
this hyur whang kum cuf? An' whar's the other eend?"

I saw that he held in his hand the noose of the lazo which he had taken
from my ankles, and I explained the mystery of how it had "kum cut".
This seemed to raise me still higher in the hunter's esteem. Turning to
one of the riflemen, an old hun