The object that had been his aim was an ash-grey snake, rather short and thick of form, which lay coiled into the figure of a letter S, and held its head a few inches from the rock on which it lay.

"If you wish to kill the little vipers do it with a stick, my lad.

Every charge of powder may prove very valuable, and be wanted in an emergency."

"I say," said Jack Penny, dropping the b.u.t.t of his piece on the rock, leaning his arms upon it, and staring at the speaker. "You don't think we are likely to have a fight soon, do you?"

"I hope not," said the doctor; "but we shall have to be always on the alert, for in a land like this we never know how soon danger may come."

"I say, Jack," I whispered, "do you want to go back?"

"No: I don't want to go back," he said with a snort. "I don't say I ain't afraid. P'r'aps I am. I always thought our place lonely, but it was nothing to these parts, where there don't seem to be no living people at all."

"Well, let's get on," said the doctor, smiling; and we threaded our way as well as we could amongst the chaotic ma.s.ses of stones till we were stopped short by a complete crack in the stony earth, just as if the land had been dragged asunder.

As we stood on the brink of the chasm, and gazed down at the bottom some hundred feet below, we could see that it was a wild stony place, more sterile than that we had traversed. In places there were traces of moisture, as if water sometimes trickled down, and where this was the case I could see that ferns were growing pretty freely, but on the whole the place was barrennesss itself.

It seemed to have a fascination though for Jack Penny, who sat down on the edge and dangled his long legs over the rock, amusing himself by throwing down pieces of stone on to larger pieces below, so as to see them shatter and fall in fragments.

"Snakes!" he said suddenly. "Look at 'em. See me hit that one." He pitched down a large piece of stone as he spoke, and I saw something glide into a crevice, while another reptile raised itself up against a piece of rock and fell back hissing angrily.

We were so high up that I could not tell how big these creatures were, but several that we noticed must have been six or seven feet long, and like many vipers of the poisonous kinds, very thick in proportion.

I daresay we should have stopped there amusing ourselves for the next hour, pitching down stones and making the vipers vicious; but our childish pursuit was ended by the doctor, who clapped Jack on the shoulder.

"Come, Jack," he said, "if we leave you there you'll fall asleep and topple to the bottom."

Jack drew up his legs and climbed once more to his feet, looking very hot and languid, but he shouldered his piece and stepped out as we slowly climbed along the edge of the chasm for about a quarter of a mile, when it seemed to close up after getting narrower and narrower, so that we continued our journey on what would have been its farther side had it not closed.

Higher and higher we seemed to climb, with the path getting more difficult, save when here and there we came upon a nice bare spot free from stones, and covered with a short kind of herb that had the appearance of thyme.

But now the heat grew less intense. Then it was comparatively cool, and a soft moist air fanned our heated cheeks. The roar of the falls grew louder, and at any moment we felt that we might come upon the sight, but we had to travel on nearly half a mile along what seemed to be a steep slope. It was no longer arid and barren here, for every shelf and crevice was full of growth of the most vivid green. For a long time we had not seen a tree, but here tall forest trees had wedged their roots in the cracks and crevices, curved out, and then shot straight up into the air.

The scene around was beautiful, and birds were once more plentiful, dashing from fruit to flower, and no doubt screaming and piping according to their wont, but all seemed to be strangely silent, even our own voices sounded smothered, everything being overcome by the awful deep loud roar that came from beyond a dense clump of trees.

We eagerly pressed forward now, ready, however, to find that we had a long distance to go, and the doctor leading we wound our way in and out, with the delicious shade overhead, and the refreshing moist air seeming to cool our fevered faces and dry lips.

"Why, we're walking along by the very edge," said Jack Penny suddenly.

"This is the way;" and stepping aside he took about a dozen steps and then the undergrowth closed behind him for the moment, but as we parted it to follow him we caught sight of his tall form again and then lost it, for he uttered a shrill "Oh!" and disappeared.

"Doctor! quick!" I cried, for I was next, and I sprang forward, to stop appalled, for Jack was before me clinging to a thin sapling which he had caught as he fell, and this had bent like a fishing-rod, letting him down some ten feet below the edge of an awful precipice, the more terrible from the fact that the river seemed to be rushing straight out into the air from a narrow ravine high upon our right, and to plunge down into a vast rocky basin quite a couple of hundred feet below.

As I caught sight of Jack Penny's face with its imploring eyes I was for the moment paralysed. He had tight hold of the tree, which was only about half the thickness of his own thin wrists, and he was swaying up and down, the weight of his body still playing upon the elastic sapling.

"I can't hold on long, Joe Carstairs," he said hoa.r.s.ely. "I'm such a weight; but I say I ain't a bit afraid, only do be quick."

The doctor had crept to my side now, and he reached out his hand to grasp Jack, but could not get hold of him by a couple of feet.

"Can't you reach?" the poor fellow gasped.

"No, not yet," the doctor said sharply; and his voice seemed quite changed as he took in the position; and I saw him shudder as he noted, as I had done, that if Jack fell it would be into the foaming basin where the water thundered down.

"Be quick, please," panted Jack. "I can't do nothing at all; and I don't--think--I could swim--down there."

"Don't look down," roared the doctor, though even then his voice sounded smothered and low.

Jack raised his eyes to ours directly, and I seemed to feel that but for this he would have been so unnerved that he would have loosed his hold.

"Now," cried the doctor, "the tree's too weak for you to cling to it with your legs. Swing them to and fro till we catch hold of you."

Jack looked at me with a face like ashes; but he obeyed, and it was horrible to see the sapling bend and play like a cart-whip with the weight upon it. Each moment I expected it to snap in two or give way at the roots; but no: it held fast, and Jack swung to and fro, and danced up and down over the awful gulf till he was within our reach.

"Now!" shouted the doctor to me. "Both together."

I did as he did, clutched at Jack's legs as they swung up to us; held on; and then we threw ourselves back, dragging with all our might.

"Let go! let go!" roared the doctor to Jack.

"I daren't, not yet," he cried, with his head hidden from us, that and his body being over the gulf, while we had his legs over the edge of the rock.

"But the tree is drawing you away from us," shouted the doctor. "Let go, I say."

All this time it was as though Jack Penny were made of india-rubber, for as we pulled his legs it was against something elastic, which kept giving and drawing us back.

For a few moments it seemed doubtful whether we should save him, for our hold was hastily taken and none of the best, and I felt the cold perspiration gathering in my hands and on my brow. Then just as I felt that I must give way, and the doctor's hard panting breathing sounded distant and strange through the singing in my ears, our desperate tugging prevailed over even the wild clutch of one who believed himself in deadly peril. Jack's hands relaxed, and we all fell together amongst the bushes, but safe.

No one spoke, and the dull sound of panting was heard even amidst the roar of the falling waters. Then the doctor got up, looking fierce and angry, and seizing Jack by the collar he gave him a shake.

"Look here," he said. "I'll have no more of it. Next time you get into danger, you may save yourself."

"Thank ye, doctor," said Jack, sitting up and rocking himself softly.

"I might just as well have gone as be treated like this. You might have taken hold of a fellow's clothes, both of you. You've about tore the flesh off my bones."

The doctor turned away to look at the great waterfall, evidently amused by Jack's dry drawling speech; and I sat and looked at my companion, while he looked at me, and spoke out so as to make me hear above the roar of the torrent.

"I say, Joe Carstairs, I didn't seem to be very much frightened, did I?"

"No," I said. "You bore it very bravely."

"Mean it?"

"Of course," I said.

"That's right; because I did feel awfully queer, you know. I don't mind that though so long as I didn't show it."

"How did you manage to get into such a pickle?" I said.

"Oh, I don't know," he drawled, still rubbing himself gently. "I was wandering forward to get a good look at the waterfall, and then my legs seemed to go down. I only had time to grip hold of that tree, and then I was swinging about. That's all. Let's have a look at the water, though, all the same."

We followed the doctor, going cautiously along till we found him standing gun in hand gazing from a bare spot right out at the huge tumbling body of water, which made the very rocks on which we stood tremble and vibrate as it thundered down.