formation was nearly always the same,
stratum after stratum of from one to three feet in thickness, lying one
upon the other, and riven into blocks which looked as if they had been
laid by giant masons, to form a monstrous wall. Consequently, between
the strata and their upright dividing cracks, there were plenty of
places where a bold climber could find foot and hand-hold, without
counting upon roots of trees, wiry shrubs, and tough herbs, to hold on
by when other objects failed.

So easily enough, down went Mark, humming his tune again, and changing
the humming to singing about the three ravens sitting on a tree, though
in this instance, excepting the young in the nest below, there were only
two, and instead of sitting, they were sailing round and round, croaking
and barking angrily, the cock bird, if it was not the hen, making a
pretence every now and then, to dart down and strike at the would-be
marauder, who was descending to their home.

But Mark lowered himself steadily enough, laughing at the angry birds,
and listening for the first cries of their young, as he wondered how big
they would be.

He soon found that appearances were deceitful, upon a great height like
that, for instead of the bush which hid the nest, being forty feet from
the cliff brow, it was a good sixty, and the climbing was not so good as
he had anticipated. The limestone crumbled away here and there; tufts
of tough grass came out by the roots, and the stunted stems of bushes
were not plentiful enough for hand-hold. But whenever the lad found the
place too difficult, he edged off to right or left, and found an easier
spot from which he lowered himself, and edged his way back along the
joining of the next row of blocks.

To any one gazing from the opposite side, his appearance, flattened
against the cliff, would have seemed appalling, but to Mark Eden it was
a mere nothing; he was descending the old cliff, and trying to find the
easiest way, that was all. No nervous qualms troubled him, and the
thought of falling never once came into his head.

Lower and lower, with the sun beating upon his back, and the ravens
croaking more and more loudly, and getting more threatening.

"Just wait till I get down to the bush, my fine fellows," he said aloud.
"Then you may come on if you like, and I should like to see you do it;
only look out, for it means spitting yourselves. Glad I brought my
sword."

He was now only about ten feet above the bush;