a mile distant, gigantic
overhanging crags rose from the valley to a height greater than the rock
whereon we were kneeling. At a glance we could both see that to scale the
wall of rock opposite would be impossible owing to its overhanging
nature, therefore, we concluded that our way lay along the fertile valley
where the cool welcome green refreshed our eyes.

Already Omar and a couple of dozen of our black followers were carefully
swarming down the face of the rock. Now and then warning shouts arose
from them, and ever and anon Omar's voice could be heard giving
directions, or urging caution. The latter was certainly necessary, for a
single false step would mean a terrible death.

As I gazed down into the deep abyss I felt my head reeling. There is a
fascination in great heights that impels one to thoughts of
self-destruction. A sudden dizziness seized me as I placed my foot over
the edge of the fearful precipice, and were it not for Kona, who,
noticing my condition, gripped me by the arm, I should have certainly
missed my footing and been dashed to pieces on the needle-like crags at
the base.

The sudden knowledge that I had been within an ace of death caused me to
hold my breath; then I crept cautiously over the edge. For a moment, with
my hands clutching frantically upon a jutting piece of rock, my legs
swung in mid air, failing to find a foothold, and I cried out, fearing
lest I should again fall. But at last my feet struck against a
projection, and upon it I carefully lowered myself, while Kona also swung
himself over, taking the perilous position I had a moment before
occupied. Again and again I lowered myself, gripping on to the successive
projections, and lowering myself until my feet touched the one below,
thus descending as Omar had done.

"Be careful, Scars," he presently cried from far below. "Drop straight,
and look to your footing."

His words caused me to reflect upon the strange fact that each of these
projections, almost like natural steps, were placed immediately below one
another. Whether they were actually natural formations, or whether they
were the work of man I could not determine. Yet they seemed interminable,
and sometimes so far apart that I remained stationary, fearing to let
myself go until, urged downward by Kona, I held my breath, and, steadying
myself, dropped upon the narrow ledge below. Dreading a recurrence of
giddiness I dared not to look down at my companions. My bare feet and