Barbara felt her own strength going. She tried to crawl up the slippery rock again, but her power was gone. She, too, felt herself—slipping, slipping! With one wild cry she caught at her rock, and all was still!
CHAPTER XVI—HELP ARRIVES
Mr. Cartwright was dining alone on his Japanese veranda, as his wife was with the yachting party, and was not expected to dinner.
Jones, the butler, came in softly, placing the soup in front of his master. As he put down the plate his hand shook. Surely he heard a cry!
At the same moment Mr. Cartwright started up. “Jones, what was that?” They both stood still. There was no further sound.
“Must ’ave been children playing, sir,” suggested Jones, and Mr. Cartwright continued his dinner.
“Help, help!” The sound came from afar off, loud and shrill. This time there was no mistake.
“Coming!” Mr. Cartwright shouted. “Coming!” As he ran across the lawn, closely followed by Jones, he snatched a heavy coil of rope left by the workmen who had been swinging hammocks and arranging for Mrs. Cartwright’s outdoor bazaar.
“Call again, if you can,” Mr. Cartwright yelled. Faintly, a voice seemed to come up out of the earth. “Help, help! Oh, please!”
Mr. Cartwright caught the direction of the voice, and ran along the cliffs. In a moment he espied the fallen bridge and guessed what had happened; then he and Jones saw the two girls in their perilous position.