pared to jump. He filled his lungs two or three times. But he seemed
to hesitate. "Pshaw, watching you back there has made me nervous. I
never cared before. If I should happen to fall, go back to where we met,
it is safer there without a guide than here."

Without another word Branasko hurled himself forward. Johnston held
his breath in horror, for Branasko's foot had slipped as he jumped.
The Alphian had struck the opposite ledge, but not with his feet, as
he intended. He clutched it with his hands and hung there for a moment,
struggling to get a foothold in the emptiness beneath him.

"It's no use, I am falling; I can hold no longer!" And Johnston,--too
terrified to reply,--heard the poor fellow's hands slipping from the
rock, causing a quantity of loose stones to go rattling down below. With
a low cry Branasko fell. An instant later Johnston heard him strike the
ledge beneath, and heard him cry out in pain. Then all was still except
the echoes of Branasko's cry, which bounded and rebounded from side to
side of the chasm, and grew fainter and fainter, till it was submerged
in the roaring below. Then there was a rattle of stones, and Branasko's
voice sounded: "A narrow escape!" he said faintly. "I am on another
ledge"--then after a slight pause, "it is much wider, I don't know how
wide. Are you listening?"

"Yes, but are you hurt?"

"Not at all. Simply knocked the breath out of me for a moment. There is
a cave behind me, and (for a moment there was silence) I can see a light
ahead in the cave. I think it must be the reflection of the internal
fire. Come down to me and we will explore the cavern, and see where the
light comes from."

"I can't get down there!" shouted Johnston, to make himself heard above
a sudden increase in the roaring in the chasm, "there is no way."

"Wait a moment!" came from the Alphian. "This ledge seems to incline
upward."

Johnston stood perfectly motionless, afraid to move from the ledge
either to right or to left, and heard Branasko's footsteps along the
rock beneath. "All right so far," he called up, and his voice showed
that he had gone to a considerable distance to the left, "the ledge
seems to be still leading gradually upward. I think I can reach you."

Fifteen minutes passed. The lone American could no longer hear
Branasko's footsteps. Johnston was becoming uneasy and the hot air
was causing his head to swim. He was thinking of trying to retrace his
footsteps to a place of more