"Colonel!"
"Hello!"
He started violently.
Had he really heard that, or was imagination playing tricks with echo?
"Colonel!"
"Where the devil——"
A man's head appeared out of the sky.
"Got the rope?"
Words indistinguishable floated down—the head withdrawn—silence. The Boy waited a very long time, but he stamped his feet, and kept his blood in motion. The light was very grey when the head showed again at the sky-line. He couldn't hear what was shouted down, and it occurred to him, even in his huge predicament, that the Colonel was "giving him hot air" as usual, instead of a life-line. Down the rope came, nearer, and stopped about fifteen feet over his head.
"Got the axe? Let her down."