“Make it fast round Jollivet,” shouted the Colonel.
“All right, sir. Now, Master Gwyn, you hear what your guv’nor says?”
“Yes, I hear, Sam,” panted the lad; “and I’m trying to do it. I’ll begin as soon as ever I can, but I feel that if I let go, Joe would come down on you. He has no strength left in him, and—and I’m not much better.”
“And you’ll let go, too,” growled the man to himself, “and if you do, it’s all over with me.” Then aloud: “Hold tight, my lad; I’m coming up.”
Chapter Eighteen.
An Ignominious Ascent.
“Am I to send someone down?” cried the Colonel, angrily.
“No, father,” shouted Gwyn, his father’s voice seeming to give him new force. “The ladder won’t bear four.”