should be seized with vertigo he would certainly drag
you down with him, and you would both be lost."

"And you, Joel?"

"While you are traversing the brow of the cliff I will creep along the
edge of it on the river-side. I shall reach him about as soon as you
do, and if you should slip I shall perhaps be able to prevent you both
from falling."

Then, taking advantage of another interval in the roaring of the
torrent, Joel shouted in stentorian tones:

"Don't move, sir. Wait; we will try to get to you!"

Hulda had already disappeared behind the trees that crowned the ledge,
in order to ascend the Maristien from the other side of the declivity,
and Joel soon caught a glimpse of the fast-receding form of the brave
girl at the turn in the path where the last trees grew.

He, in turn, at the peril of his life, had begun to creep slowly
along the shelving edge of the ledge that surrounds the Rjukan. What
wonderful coolness, what steadiness of foot and of hand were required
to thus advance in safety along the edge of an abyss whose borders
were drenched with the spray of the cataract!

In a parallel direction, but at least one hundred feet above his head,
Hulda was advancing obliquely in order to reach the traveler more
easily; but the position of the latter was such that she could not see
his face, that being turned toward the cataract.

Joel, on reaching a spot directly below the unfortunate man paused,
and after planting his foot firmly in a small crevice in the rock,
called out:

"Hallo, sir!"

The traveler turned his head.

"Don't move, sir; don't move an inch, but hold fast!"

"I'll do that, my friend, never fear," replied the stranger in a tone
that reassured Joel. "If I hadn't a good grip, I should have gone to
the bottom of the Rjukan a quarter of an hour ago."

"My sister is also coming to help you," continued Joel. "She will take
hold of your hand, but don't attempt to get upon your feet until I
reach you. Don't even move."

"No more than a rock," replied the traveler.

Hulda had already begun to descend the ledge, carefully selecting
the less slippery parts of the slope with the clear head of a true
daughter of the Telemark.

And she, too, now called out as Joel had done:

"Holdfast, sir."

"Yes; I am holding fast, and I assure you that I shall continue to do
so as long as I can."

"And above all don't be afraid!" added Hulda.

"I am not afraid."

"We'll save you yet!" cried Joel.