nd be swep' away, and sucked in."

This checked him and made him hesitate, but rousing his courage again,
he once more began to edge along the shelf below the surface, and this
spurred the fugitive on to make another effort.

This time he caught at the ivy, which gave way a little more, but still
held, and by moving cautiously, Ralph managed to get his feet upon the
ledge. The next minute he had found another prominence below water,
raised his foot to it, and caught at a rough bit of the stone above the
ivy, stood firm, drew himself a little higher, and by a quick scramble,
got a foot now on the ivy stem and his hands in the crack above, just as
the growth yielded to his foot, dropped into the stream, and was swept
away, leaving the lad hanging by his cramped fingers.

But though the ivy was gone, the crevice in which it had grown remained,
and in another few seconds Ralph's toes were in it, and the weight off
his hands.

He rested, and looked down-stream, to see that the man was steadily
approaching, but the lad felt safe now. The ivy was gone, and the enemy
could not possibly get farther along the ledge than the spot from whence
he had slipped.

Cheered by this, Ralph began to climb again, finding the task easier,
and the next minute he had hold of the tough stem of the hawthorn; and
heedless of the thorns, dragged himself up into it, stood upright,
reached another good, strong hand-hold, and then stepped right up on to
a broad shelf of grass-grown limestone. The men uttered a fierce shout,
and their leader, seeing now that his task was hopeless, began to retire
and join his companions.

Ralph watched him for a few moments, and then began to climb again,
finding this part of the slope easy, for great pieces of stone were
piled up, and made fast by the bushes which grew amongst them, hiding
the fugitive from the sight of those below, and raising his hopes as he
found how easily he could get up. Twice over he heard shouts and their
echoes from the opposite side, but he was too busy to heed them, and
soon felt confident enough to sit down in a niche, half-way up the
cliff, and rest for a few minutes.

"Horribly wet," he said to himself; "fishing-rod broken and lost,
fish-can gone, and--ah! I did not expect that," for he found that
shoes, hose, and creel were safe. "Glad I shall take the fish home
after all."

He listened: all was still. Then he peered down, but he could see
nothing save the bushes and tr