Part 8 (1/2)
”I'll try to, but, oh! hurry, please!” came the trembling answer.
Already Hugh was pa.s.sing over the edge. He took care not to make a false movement, for the precipice was all of forty feet in depth, and a fall on the rocks below was bound to be a serious matter.
To lower himself to where the imperiled boy clung he had to take advantage of numerous projecting points of rock that offered him a foothold, or a place where he could hang on with his hands.
Hugh was as nimble as any boy in Scranton, which fact proved of great advantage to him just then. Had it been otherwise, he might have himself fallen, and there would then have been a double tragedy.
Somehow, through Hugh's mind flashed the memory of how Claude's doting mother had always, on every occasion, condemned all athletic exercises that were intended to build up the muscles, and give new power to the body. It seemed the irony of fate that the life of her precious boy was now going to hang upon the ability of Hugh Morgan to sustain himself, and the weight of another, there upon the face of that rocky precipice!
Perhaps in times to come Mrs. Jardine would discover how false her ideas were, and experience a radical change of heart. The opportunity which Hugh had once sighed for had come to him in a most wonderful way.
He succeeded in making his way down in safety, though once he slipped, and had a thrill of alarm pa.s.s over him. Now he found himself alongside Claude. The boy's face was the color of ashes;
Hugh had never looked upon a corpse in all his life, but he could not help comparing Claude's pallid countenance to one.
He was glancing around with the eye of a general who lets nothing, no matter how trivial, escape him. Just a foot below Claude's dangling toes there was a narrow ledge. If only both of them could find lodgment upon this, and have some hold above for their hands, they might maintain their position until Hugh's shouts attracted ”Just”
Smith to the spot, and he could do something to aid them.
”Listen, Claude,” he said earnestly. ”There's a way to save you, if only you keep your head about you. 'Just' Smith is coming along the road, and I'll shout out to guide him here so he can help us.”
”But---the bush is going to give way right off!” gasped the terrified boy.
”Well, below us there's a ledge where we must plant our feet, and hold on,” continued Hugh, convincingly. ”I'm going to drop down to it now.
Then you must try to lower yourself along the bush, inch by inch, until you feel the ledge under you. Don't be afraid, because I mean to grab hold of you; but when you feel me touching you, above all things don't let go above, or you'll throw us both down. Now, be ready, Claude; and, remember, it's going to be all right. Keep cool!”
Of course, Hugh only said that last to rea.s.sure the poor chap. Claude was already cold with as cold as an icicle, in fact; and quaking with fear in the bargain.
It was easy enough for Hugh to drop down another foot or so, until he felt the solid little ledge under him. Indeed, had it been necessary, such an agile fellow very likely might have continued all the way down to the base of the precipice.
His next move was to find a firm hold for his left hand, to which he could continue to cling while he sustained much of the weight of the other boy, after the weakened roots of the bush gave way entirely.
Claude was trying to do what he had been told, though in rather a bungling fas.h.i.+on. Inch by inch he allowed the bush to slip through his hands, looking down as well as he was able at the same time, in order to ascertain just how near he might be to that same ledge Hugh had told him of.
CHAPTER XI
THE CRISIS IN CLAUDE'S LIFE
Hugh kept a watchful eye on that bush. He knew it was going to give way presently, when, unless Claude had managed to secure a fresh grip on some object with his poor scratched hands, he was likely to be dashed downward.
Fortune was, however, kind in that respect, for there chanced to be a nice projection of rock, somewhat in the shape of a horn, just in the right place for Claude to seize upon, and which would help sustain his weight. Hugh knew very well, though, that most of the burden would fall upon him; and he, therefore, prepared to accept it.
”Here, reach out with your left hand, Claude, and take hold of this rock. Your feet are both safely anch.o.r.ed on the ledge. Keep up your grit, and everything will be all right yet. Do you understand what I'm telling you, Claude?”
”Yes, I do, Hugh,” chattered the other, for his teeth were rattling together in a way that reminded Hugh of the ”Bones” at the end of a minstrel line; if he had ever seen a Spanish stage performance he would have said they made a sound like castanets in the hands of the senorita who gave the national Castilian dance.
Claude really managed to carry out that part of the task with a fair amount of success. His other hand still gripped the bush, which continued to gradually give way under the long and severe strain.
Hugh braced himself. He had taken as firm a bold as was possible, and had his other arm thrown around Claude.