down the precipice. Let this be a warning to us both, my
lad; for it shows that, steady as are our heads aloft at sea, they are
not to be too much depended upon when climbing precipices on shore.
But, come! it is high time that we should be moving again; those fellows
are half-way to the head of the valley by this time, and if we are not
smart, they will have us yet. Do you feel sufficiently rested to tackle
the other half of this cliff?"

"Ay, ay, cap'n, I'm ready," answered Tom; "but, for the Lord's sake,
sir, and for all our sakes, don't you go for to look down and get
tempted to jump off again. Perhaps I mightn't be able to stop you next
time, you know."

"All right, Tom, never fear," answered George; "I'll take care not to
run such an awful risk again, you may be sure. Now are you ready? Then
take your end of this poor fellow, and let us be moving."

But, now that they were ready to resume their ascent, another terrible
difficulty presented itself. On looking upward for a projection by
which to raise himself, Leicester for the first time became aware that
the ledge on which they stood marked a change of strata. Below them it
was all hard rock; above the ledge he could see nothing but a vertical
unbroken face, some twenty feet in height, of soft crumbling sandstone,
so soft indeed that it scarcely merited the name of stone at all, but
might be more fitly described as solidly compressed red sandy soil, of
such slight tenacity that it was possible to scrape it away with the
naked finger. To climb this smooth crumbling face, even with the aid of
a ladder, George at once saw would have been utterly impossible; for,
though it has been spoken of as vertical, it was not strictly so; it
inclined slightly forward, so as actually to overhang them, and a ladder
would therefore not have stood against the face; how, then, could they
hope, encumbered as they were, to surmount it? The task was an obvious
impossibility, and George saw that it would be necessary to seek for a
practicable place elsewhere.

Accordingly Walford was once more laid upon the rock, with Tom to watch
him and guard against any possible mishap, whilst George went off upon
an exploring expedition.

He first tried to the left, passing along the ledge very cautiously,
with his face turned to the wall, so that he might not again be exposed
to the terrible temptation from which he had so recently escaped. At
first he had great hopes of success, the