184 CHAMOIS HUNTING. 



stopping the instant your feet rested on it, in order not 

 to go over the other side. This pinnacle of rock was 

 very narrow, and all below sharp and pointed. Xavier, 

 with his rifle well up behind his back, and the pole 

 in his right hand, was over in a second, and stood as 

 firm and upright on his lofty narrow footing as though 

 he had but stepped across. I doubted whether I could 

 manage the jump : the opposite side was where the 

 danger lay, for if I made the leap with only a little 

 too much impetus, I should not be able to stop my- 

 self, and over I must go. 



" Is there no other way, Xavier, of reaching where 

 you now are, but by jumping over ?" 



"No/' said he, examining the place, "you cannot 

 cross except by jumping ; it is not wide." 



".No, but the other side that's the thing: it is 

 deep down, is it not ?" 



" Why yes, rather deep ; but come, you can do it." 



" I feel I cannot, so will not try," I replied, and 

 began to look for some other way. The cleft itself, 

 across which Xavier sprang, was only about twelve or 

 fourteen feet deep ; I was at the bottom of it, and 

 while standing between the two rocks I thought I 

 might manage to climb upwards, with my back against 

 one wall and my feet or knees against the other, as a 

 sweep passes up a perpendicular flue, to which this 

 place had great resemblance. My heavy rifle incon- 

 venienced me, but still I contrived to ascend. I was 

 nearing the top of my chimney, when the chamois, 

 seeing Xavier approach, leaped down into the chasm 



