76 EVERYDAY ADVENTURES 



or an ibex. At last I found myself perched on a shelf 

 of stone about the width of my hand. The Collec- 

 tor, who was above me on an even smaller foothold, 

 took this opportunity to tell me that the rare Alle- 

 gheny cave-rat was found on this cliff, and nearly 

 fell off his perch trying to point out to me a crevice 

 where he had once seen the mass of sticks, stones, 

 leaves, feathers, and bones with which these versa- 

 tile animals barricade their passage-ways. I refused 

 to turn my head. That day I was risking my life for 

 ravens, not rats. Above us was the long, rough 

 tongue of rock. Below us, a far hundred feet, the 

 brook wound its way through snow-covered boulders. 



Again the Collector led the way. Hooking both 

 arms over the tongue of rock above him, he drew 

 himself up until his chest rested on the edge, and then, 

 sliding toward the precipice, managed to wriggle up 

 in some miraculous way without slipping off. From 

 the top of the tongue he clambered up to the niche 

 where the nest was, calling down to me to follow. 

 Accordingly I left my shelf and hung sprawlingly on 

 the tongue; but there was no room to push my way 

 up between it and the rock-roof above. 



"Throw your legs straight out," counseled the 

 Collector from above, "and let yourself slide." 



I tried conscientiously, but it was impossible. 

 My sedentary, unadventurous legs simply would not 

 whirl out into space. At last, under the jeers of my 

 friend, I shut my eyes and, kicking out mightily, 

 found myself sliding toward eternity. Just before 

 I reached it, under the Collector's bellowed instruc- 



