ieved his feelings by a wild prolonged cheer. Nigel obtained the
same relief by means of a deep long-drawn sigh, but Winnie did not move;
she seemed to realise her father's danger better than her companions,
and remembered that the descent would be much more difficult than the
ascent. They were not kept long in suspense. In a few minutes the
hermit reappeared and began to retrace his steps--slowly but steadily--
and the watchers breathed more freely.

Moses was right; there was in reality little danger in the climb, for
the ledges which appeared to them like mere threads, and the footholds
that were almost invisible, were in reality from a foot to three feet
wide. The only danger lay in the hermit's head being unable to stand
the trial, but, as Moses had remarked, there was no fear of that.

The watchers were therefore beginning to feel somewhat relieved from the
tension of their anxiety, when a huge mass of rock was seen to slip from
the face of the cliff and descend with the thunderous roar of an
avalanche. The incident gave those in the boat a shock, for the
landslip occurred not far from the spot which Van der Kemp had reached,
but as he still stood there in apparent safety there seemed no cause for
alarm till it was observed that the climber remained quite still for a
long time and seemed to have no intention of moving.

"God help him!" cried Nigel in sudden alarm, "the ledge has been carried
away and he cannot advance! Stay by the boat, Moses, I will run to help
him!"

"No, Massa Nadgel," returned the negro, "I go to die wid 'im. Boat kin
look arter itself."

He sprang on shore as he spoke, and dashed up the mountain-side like a
hunted hare.

Our hero looked at Winnie for an instant in hesitation.

"Go!" said the poor girl. "You know I can manage a boat--quick!"

Another moment and Nigel was following in the track of the negro. They
gained the broken ledge together, and then found that the space between
the point which they had reached and the spot on which the hermit stood
was a smooth face of perpendicular rock--an absolutely impassable gulf!

Van der Kemp was standing with his back flat against the precipice and
his feet resting on a little piece of projecting rock not more than
three inches wide. This was all that lay between him and the hideous
depth below, for Nigel found on carefully drawing nearer that the
avalanche had been more extensive than was apparent from below, and that
the ledg