As soon as he was settled in security he bent down over the edge, intending to reach the girl's hands. But he realized at once that he would be in danger of overbalancing if he attempted to lift her in such a manner. For an instant he hesitated; and then unfastened his heavy belt, laid the pistol on the rock beside him, and let down the buckle end of the strap.
"You'll have to take it," he asserted.
"Oh, no!" she faltered as she understood his purpose, "I—I haven't the strength left."
He regarded her fixedly for a moment, and when he spoke his tone was cold and cutting. "I somehow hadn't thought you were a coward," he said.
She threw up her head with a gasp, and a tinge of crimson suddenly showed in her cheeks. As Dexter peered down at her he saw a gleam of recklessness flaunting in her eyes. With swift decision she released her hold on the rocks, and her hands grasped the end of the dangling belt. "Go ahead!" she said. "I'll hang on if I can."
Dexter braced his feet firmly, leaned forward as far as he dared, and exerting all the strength of his shoulders and arms, he raised her from the rock beneath and drew her up towards him. Almost before she could have realized what had happened, she was clinging on the brink. The corporal caught her about the waist, and lifted her to solid footing beside him.
She turned unsteadily, her lips quivering. "I—anybody's likely to be a coward—sometimes," she stated.
The corporal faced her with a grin. "You didn't honestly think I meant that, did you?" He slowly shook his head. "That's one thing, at least, that I'll never accuse you—"
He caught himself with a start, breaking off in the midst of speech. From somewhere overhead he heard a quick, crunching sound, like heavy feet running in the snow. As he stiffened into alertness, staring upward, a man's voice was raised suddenly in hoarse, angry shouting. And then, almost simultaneously it seemed, the cliff top reverberated with the heavy report of a pistol shot.