utt and his hands pressed against the rock, until he stood almost
upright.

"You'll have to climb up over me until you can get your fingers on the
top," he said. "Take time when you get up and feel for a good hold."

Reaching his shoulders, Lisle stood on them while Nasmyth and Crestwick
on the pinnacle beneath looked up at a somewhat impressive spectacle.
Lisle's head and shoulders were now above the edge, but he was forced to
bend backward and outward by the projecting bulge which pressed against
his breast, and his cautious movements suggested that he could find no
hold. It appeared impossible for him to descend, unless he did so
accidentally, and in that event nothing could save him from a fall to the
bottom of the ravine. For a while, they watched his tense figure moving
futilely; and then Batley, standing most precariously poised, bent his
arm and seized one of Lisle's feet. He spoke in a breathless gasp as he
thrust it upward; Lisle's legs swung free and he disappeared beyond the
edge. The two below were conscious of a vast relief. It was tempered,
however, by the knowledge that they must shortly emulate their
companion's exploit.

"Take off your pack!" Batley called to Lisle. "Split the bag, if it's
necessary, and lower the end! But be quick! This isn't a comfortable
position."

The pack in which the small bush rancher conveys his provisions from the
nearest store as a rule consists of a cotton flour bag with a pair of
suspenders fastened to its corners, and Nasmyth had provided the party
with a few receptacles of similar pattern but more strongly made before
entering the wilds. The straps, when Lisle let them down, reached several
feet from the top, and Batley bade Nasmyth and Crestwick ascend. They
managed it with assistance from Lisle, who seized them from above. Then
Batley called up to them.

"I'm going to test the tackle. Give me a hand up as soon as I'm over the
bulge!"

It was difficult to hear him, as he was still beneath the projecting
edge, and they watched the straining straps with keen anxiety until a
hand that felt for a hold upon the rock appeared. Lisle seized it, with
Nasmyth ready to assist, and Batley came up, gasping, with the
perspiration streaming from his face.

"I'd have managed it easily at one time," he said. "This is what comes of
civilization and soft living."

"You brought us across; we owe you a good deal for it," declared Lisle.

Batley smiled at him as they set off agai