n her mind when one of the horse's hind legs
tripped, and the same instant horse and rider were precipitated into the
abyss.

Henrietta never lost her head during the fall. She noticed everything
that happened during the brief plunge, how the horse struggling
desperately clattered down the mountain-side, how the saddle girth burst
beneath the strain, how for a mere second some bush or shrub arrested
the descent, and how the next instant the weight of the horse tore it
down along with him. Finally, falling still lower and turning right
round on its back the horse got wedged in between two rocks from which
position he was fortunately unable to disengage himself, for had he
fallen any further he would have been dashed to pieces.

Henrietta was quite conscious the whole time. Holding on with both hands
to the roots of a bush with her left leg still in the stirrup (for
saddle and stirrup also remained hanging in the bush) it occurred to her
in this painful situation that she still had time to commend her soul to
God and then face death more calmly. As to help, there was no hope of
it, for the place was far away from all human dwellings; night would
soon fall and the bush would presently yield beneath her
feet--destruction was certain.

But while the lady neglected to call for assistance, the wedged-in horse
did so all the more loudly. Supine and unable to free himself from his
uncomfortable position, he repeatedly uttered that terrified scream
which one never hears from this noble and reticent beast except in dire
extremity. Whoever has heard such a cry will readily admit that it is
far more terrible than any merely human appeal for assistance.

After a few moments it seemed to Henrietta as if a halloo were
resounding from the depths below; looking down she perceived by the
light of the moon a black shape leaping from rock to rock like a
chamois, and gradually approaching the dangerous point where she hung.

Any efforts on this man's part seemed to her impossible. There was not a
single visible gap or crevice in the face of the steep rock by means of
which he could scramble up to her; and how could he help her, how could
he liberate her, if he did manage to get at her?

Nevertheless the man drew nearer and nearer. She could by this time make
out his goatskin cloak, his high broad cap, the clean shaved face
peculiar to the mountain goatherds. His dexterity was as astonishing as
the physical strength, with which he often