nd, after hanging from the verge for
a moment, he gave his head a nod, laughed at Max, and disappeared, with
Scoodrach leaning down with his hands upon his knees watching him.

For a few moments Max closed his eyes, while the rope jarred and jerked,
and the iron thrilled beneath his foot. Then all at once the jarring
ceased, and the rope hung loose.

Max opened his eyes in horror, the idea being strong upon him that
Kenneth had fallen. But his voice rose out of the depths beyond the
edge.

"Ask him if he'd like to come down and see."

"No, no!" cried Max huskily; "I'd rather not."

"She says she shall not come," cried Scoodrach.

"Then let him stay where he is," came from below. "Come and have a
look, Scood."

To Max's horror, the gillie went down on his knees, seized the rope, and
passed over the edge; Max watching his grinning countenance as he
lowered himself down, with first his chest and then his face
disappearing, lastly the worsted tuft on the top of his Tam o' Shanter;
and there was nothing to see but the pulsating rope, and the sea, sky,
and blue mountains on the other side of the loch.

And now a strong desire to take his foot from the anchor, and creep to
the edge of the cliff and look down, came over Max. He wanted to see
Scoodrach descend to the shelf of rock and join Kenneth. He wanted,
too, to look upon the falcon's nest; for, after seeing these two descend
so bravely, by a sudden reaction he felt ashamed of his own nervousness,
and was ready to show them that he was not so cowardly after all.

All this was momentary; and there the rope kept on vibrating and the
anchor jarred as Scoodrach descended; while, as Max pressed the stock
down, and it rose and fell like a spring beneath his foot, he kept his
eyes fixed upon the edge of the cliff, where the rope seemed to end,
when there was a dull twang, as if the string of some gigantic
instrument had snapped, and, to his horror, the rope rose from the top
of the cliff as if alive, and struck and coiled round him with a
stinging pain.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

A BRAVE ATTEMPT.

For a few moments Max Blande stood as if petrified, and those moments
were like an hour, while the thought flashed through him of what must be
going on below, where he seemed to see Kenneth gazing down in horror at
the shapeless form of Scoodrach lying unrecognisable on the rocks below.

All feeling of dread on his own behalf was gone now; and, as soon as the
first shoc