e forgets those who flit into one's life and out again? He did
not believe in a jesting God.

One foot forward, the body flat against the wall, a little choke from
the dust, then the other foot after. A pause to catch the breath,
then--one foot forward, the body flat against the wall, a little choke
from the dust, then the other foot after. Also he must pause to
remember that it was twelve hands up, close to the wall, thirty paces
on, then ten.

Odd things flash through a mind long at a tension. In the midst of his
suffering he found time to smile at the thought that life had reduced
itself to such a formula. A single error in this sing-song, such as
ten hands up instead of twelve,--_was_ it ten or twelve? Ten hands up
and close to the wall--twelve hands up and close to the wall--they
sounded alike. Each fell equally well into the rhythm of his song. He
stopped in the grip of a new fear. He had forgotten, and, trying to
recall the rest, he found he had forgotten that too. His mind was a
jumble so that now he did not dare to put out his right foot at all
without first feeling with his toe a little beyond.

But this passed soon, and his thoughts returned to her, which steadied
him instantly. So he came safely to the single step down and
accomplished this. Then the other and accomplished that. At the end of
a few paces farther he faced the great rock. It had become dark down
here now,--so dark that he could not see six inches ahead. His foot
had come against the rock, and then he had felt up with his hands. He
found it impossible to stoop sufficiently accurately to measure from
the bottom. There was nothing for it but to guess--to try again and
again until either it gave or he proved that it would not give.

He placed his hand upon the rock at about the height of his chest and
threw his weight forward. It was as though he were trying to push the
mountain itself to one side. He tried above, below, to the right, to
the left without result. Nothing discouraged, he began again, starting
from as low as he could reach and pressing with all his strength at
intervals of a few inches. Suddenly, like a door opened from within,
the rock toppled to the right where it hung balanced over the
precipice, leaving an opening two feet wide. It would have been a
tight squeeze for Stubbs, but Wilson easily jammed through. He saw
that the path continued at a slightly downward slope.

"Thirty paces on and ten to the left."

He repeated th