y, and so spied out a way of deliverance for us. The announcement
of his discovery was made in a very characteristic way.

"You set up to be some punkins of an engineer, now don't you?" he said,
addressing Rayburn. "But did you ever happen to hear of a bridge that
was hung up at one end an' that was operated by swingin' it backward an'
forward like a pendulum?"

"No," Rayburn answered, promptly and decisively, "I never did."

"So I thought," Young went on. "Well, you've admitted that in sev'ral
things th' man who was in charge of construction on this line could have
given you points, an' this swingin' bridge notion is one of 'em. I can't
say that I think much of it. It wouldn't do in railroads, for sure; but
there is a good deal to be said in favor of it when it helps folks out
of such a hole as we're in now--an' if it still is in workin' order,
that is just what it's going to do. There it is. Do you catch on?"

We all looked in the direction in which Young pointed, for his gesture
was so earnest that even Fray Antonio and Pablo caught the meaning of
it, and so saw--pendent from a point far up on the overhang of rock, and
but indistinctly showing in the shadow--a great chain that at its lower
end was caught in a metal hook set in the face of the cliff at the
extreme back of the ledge on which we stood. For my part, I did not at
once catch the meaning of Young's words even when I saw the chain, but
Rayburn understood it all in a moment.

"By Jove!" he exclaimed, "that _is_ a notion! You grab the end of it and
just swing across to the other side!"

Young already had loosened the chain from the hook and was testing its
strength by putting his weight on it. At the end of it was a crossbar
big enough to get a good grip upon; and this, and the chain itself, were
wrought of the bright, hard metal of which we had encountered so many
specimens. The upper end was made fast high above us in the out-jut of
rock, very nearly over the centre of the canon; so that no great force
was required to carry whoever grasped the crossbar, and so swung out
boldly, clear across the chasm to the ledge on the other side. But I
confess that the thought of such a passage made me feel a little dizzy
and sick; and never did I long to be safely back in my class-room at Ann
Arbor as I did just then!

"It seems t' be all right," said Young, "but I guess you may as well
take a pull on it with me, Rayburn. There'd be no fun in havin' it fetch
away w