LONE WOLF 269 



when the forest scents came rising to him 

 on the clear air, far up the steep he found a 

 climbing trail between grey, shelving ledges. 

 Stealthy as a lynx, he followed, expecting at 

 the next turn to come upon the lair of the 

 enemy. It was a just expectation; but as 

 luck would have it, that next turn, which 

 would have led him straight to his goal, lay 

 around a shoulder of rock whose foundations 

 had been loosened by the rains. With a kind 

 of long growl, rending and sickening, the rock 

 gave way, and sank beneath Timmins's feet. 



Moved by the alert and unerring instinct 

 of the woodman, Timmins leapt into the air. 

 Both high and wide he sprang, and so escaped 

 being engulfed in the mass which he had 

 dislodged. On the top of the ruin he fell, 

 but he fell far and hard ; and for some 

 fifteen or twenty minutes after that fall he 

 lay very still, while the dust and debris 

 settled into silence under the quiet flooding 

 of the sun. 



At last, he opened his eyes. For a moment 

 he made no effort to move, but lay wondering 

 where he was. A weight was on his legs, and 

 glancing downward he saw that he was half 

 covered with earth and rubbish. Then he 

 remembered. Was he badly hurt ? He was 

 half afraid, now, to make the effort to move, 



