AND DUDGEON SMILED 171 



white-capped flood — a party among whom were 

 women. We thought the view of the fall from 

 below would be worth remembering, and it was; 

 and it was down there that Dudgeon smiled. 



We did not know, and Dudgeon did not know, 

 that there had once been a stairway from the 

 other side of the river descending below the fall; 

 that, becoming dangerous, it had been destroyed; 

 that, in our day, no one attempts that descent 

 without ropes and competent guides. 



Call us fools if you will — I shall not object — for 

 we rushed in where no angel, that thought any- 

 thing of his wings, would have cared to tread. 



The next morning, without seeking advice, we 

 three (the Banker, Dudgeon and myself) jogged 

 across the great bridge and down the roadway 

 that overlooks the beautiful upper gorge. 



A little group of deer, grazing on the slope 

 above us, stopped and gazed with their great 

 tranquil eyes. The Upper Fall shouted at us 

 unnoticed. We found the little path that de- 

 scends to the bottom of the gorge, tied our horses, 

 and started down. At the brink there was a sign 

 that remarked, in the most casual way, '^Danger." 



