omes back now."

The torch moved along until it was directly over their heads, and then
the colonel called down:

"Come up to the ledge. I have a way to save you."

Guy and Melton sprang to their feet in amazement. They could hardly
believe they had heard aright.

"What can he mean?" cried Guy.

He seized the rope and started up hand over hand, placing his feet on
the rough places in the wall.

Melton joined him on the ledge a moment later. The torch he had left
there was still burning, and its light showed the colonel where they
were.

"Watch sharp below there," he cried, and almost instantly Guy felt
something dangling before his face. He put out his hand and clutched a
thin cord.

"By Jove, Melton, it's the fishing lines!" he exclaimed. "The colonel
has tied them together."

No directions were needed to tell them what to do next. Guy loosened the
hook and fastened the line to it securely.

"Go ahead," he shouted to the colonel, and the rope instantly began to
ascend.

In less than five minutes, though it really seemed an hour, the colonel
signaled down that all was ready.

It was a perilous undertaking to go up the face of the cliff with
nothing but a smooth rope to hold to, but at Guy's bidding Forbes made
the attempt.

A great load seemed lifted from Guy's mind when he heard his friend's
voice at the top, and without a moment's hesitation he started up
himself.

Had the face of the rock been perfectly smooth he could never have
reached the summit, and even by the aid of the rough places he found it
a terribly difficult task. Two or three times he swung helpless in
mid-air, and just when he felt that he could go no farther he was pulled
to the top without any effort of his own, and fell over from sheer
exhaustion. He was all right in a moment or two and, hauling up the
rope, they hurried back to the raft.

Canaris and Sir Arthur hailed them gladly. It was the work of a moment
to attach the hook to the top of the ledge, and one by one they slid
down to the raft.

Here a startling surprise awaited them. Among the rugs lay a
dark-skinned savage, half naked and frightfully emaciated, while on the
end of the raft rested a canoe much worn and battered.

"What on earth does this mean?" exclaimed Chutney. "Where did you get
that fellow? Is he dead?"

"No, he lives," replied Canaris. "I heard a strange cry out on the
lake. That was the time I fired my rifle. Then I saw this canoe drifting
toward th