hink of falling.
I know it is a hard bit to get over, but it is not above a couple of
hundred yards where it is so bad; after that it grows better and better,
till you reach the trees. Now then, all stand still while I go first."

He tightened his pack over his shoulder, took a good grip of the rifle,
stood for a moment, and then strode forward, going diagonally, as if to
reach the top of the slope.

This seemed for the moment unnecessary, and likely to make the journey
longer, but I soon saw that it was properly calculated, for as the
stones kept on sliding beneath his feet as he struggled upward, he was
constantly being brought down to the level of where we stood, perspiring
profusely, and fascinated by the peril of the task.

It was only now that I fully realised how steep the side of the valley
was, and that a fall must end in the river among the black craggy rocks
which stood up so threateningly amongst the white foam.

He went steadily on, and as I stood there I felt, to use the common
saying, as if my heart was in my mouth. A dozen terrible thoughts
flashed through my mind:--what should we do if he fell and was swept
away? It would be impossible to save him; and as to his own powers, I
did not believe that any man could battle with that terrible
torrent-like river, which would sweep him down, dashing him from rock to
rock, till he was carried from our sight, leaving us alone in our
despair to try some other way.

The thoughts were paralysing as they came with lightning-like rapidity,
for now it was dawning upon me, that shocking as it would be to see my
fellow-creature hurled to death like that, somehow Gunson, that rough,
stern, disfigured man, had made a kind of impression upon me--that there
existed a tie between us. I don't think I liked him, but I felt at that
moment as if I would have given anything to have been by his side, as I
saw him totter, slip, recover himself, slip again, and begin gliding
down fast, but always preserving his perpendicular.

"He's gone," I said aloud; but as the words left my lips he made two or
three bounds, sending the stones rushing down heavily, as he regained
his old level and went on rapidly. Onward still, but what a length that
seemed!--and now I was learning from his progress that the only chance
of getting across was to keep right on, exercising all the strength of
nerve and muscle one possessed to go forward, for to have stood still
meant to begin gliding rapidl