TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 227 



It does not, I think, really require much strength to 

 do things, but it almost always requires great strength 

 to know just what to do. Finally we decided that, as 

 there was no other way of getting at the sheep, one 

 of us must go over the ravine after the trophy. Being 

 the lightest weight the onus of the business fell on me. 



A shout for the other hunter, and that tattered 

 person hurried up, taking a considerable time to edge 

 himself round the jutting spur. Alas ! his rope failed 

 to reach the depths, a distance of some forty-five feet 

 down. Then began a weary wait in an icy blast the 

 while we sent back to camp for every available scrap 

 of rope. In worried trepidation we watched the 

 ubiquitous white vapour gathering, gathering on our 

 horizon, rolling nearer, ever nearer. 



The rope came at last, and it was firmly knotted to 

 our inadequate supply. Gummidge made a noose, 

 and we adjusted it underneath my arms, gave the rope 

 a turn round a convenient promontory, padding the 

 parts where it rubbed; the two men and Cecily took 

 hold of the line, taking up as firm positions as could 

 be found, and with a tremor in my heart and a hope 

 that it did not show outwardly, I crept to the edge 

 of the crevasse, holding the rope in my hands. For 

 a sickening second it seemed to me that I swung clear, 

 the next I crept spider-wise against the face of the 

 cliff, and all the while the rope paid out slowly and 

 evenly. 



Not for nothing had I birds' nested in the days of 

 my youth on the great gaunt cliffs of Hall Caine's 

 island. Barring a few rasps to hands and knees I 



