"The strap is a long one, and there is a bush not far off with pretty strong branches."
"But then we shall lose the lasso, for none will be left to loosen it."
"Upon my word!" cried Sumichrast, "Master Sunbeam is right."
Then each of us tried to solve the problem, proposing expedients more or less impracticable.
"I've found it out," cried I at last, with quite as much satisfaction as Archimedes when he leaped out of his bath.
Seizing my machete, I cut two stakes of a good thickness, which I drove into the ground close to one another, about three yards from the precipice. While Sumichrast with a club was consolidating my work, I cut a stick about a foot long, to the middle of which I firmly tied the lasso. I then placed it crosswise behind the stakes. I considered that when we had let ourselves down to the spot occupied by l'Encuerado, a sharp undulatory shake given to the lasso would be sufficient to disengage the stick. When our preparations were finished, we let down the basket to the man who carried it. Then Sumichrast, who was the heaviest among us, slid down the cord to the tree which grew in so convenient a position. The stakes scarcely yielded at all to his weight. Continuing his descent, my friend soon joined the Indian.
Lucien's impatience was extreme; he was enchanted with this aerial route.
"Now it's your turn," said I, as soon as I had drawn up the lasso.
"Are you going to tie me?" he asked in a disappointed tone.
"How did you suppose you would descend?"