Daubrecq objected:
“Perhaps it would be better for me to go down first.”
“Why?”
“I am very tired. You can tie your rope round my waist and hold me.... Otherwise, there is a danger that I might....”
“Yes, you are right,” said Lupin. “Come nearer.”
Daubrecq came nearer and knelt down on the rock. Lupin fastened the rope to him and then, stooping over, grasped one of the uprights in both hands to keep the ladder from shaking:
“Off you go,” he said.
At the same moment, he felt a violent pain in the shoulder:
“Blast it!” he said, sinking to the ground.
Daubrecq had stabbed him with a knife below the nape of the neck, a little to the right.