Bracy dashed forward, forcing his way past the two men, his heart beating wildly as he reached the spot from whence the sound came.
“All right,” cried Roberts from below; and, peering down through a tangle of overhanging bushes, Bracy saw his leader standing breast-high in foaming water, holding on by a branch and looking up at him.
“I fell. Unprepared. You can all slide down. Lower yourselves as far as you can, and then let go.”
The distance was about thirty feet, and the descent not perpendicular.
“You go next,” said Bracy to one of the men. “You can’t hurt, it’s only into water.”
“Let me, sir,” cried Gedge.
“Silence,” said Bracy sternly, and he watched
anxiously as the man he had spoken to set his teeth, made his way to the edge of the rock, lowered himself by holding on to some of the bushes through which Roberts had suddenly fallen, and then let go.
Hush—splash! and Bracy saw him standing in the water opposite to his Captain.