He saw that there was a small cord lying along the side of the rope across the chasm. He pulled this cord and found that it yielded.
He kept on pulling until he had drawn across to this side a pulley block that rolled upon the larger rope.
There was a hook attached to this, and Trim saw that by catching to this hook he could swing himself out over the chasm and be carried then by his own weight so far toward the other side that he could at least get his feet upon the shelf of rock there.
“This pulley block may be for freight purposes only,” he thought, “but I’ll make a passenger car out of it this time.”
It occurred to Trim that if he should take hold of the hook with his hands, he might be at disadvantage if anything should happen that would make it necessary for him to use his hands. He thought of making a sling out of two or three handkerchiefs, which he could slip under his shoulders and tie to the hook, but he feared that handkerchiefs would not be strong enough to sustain his weight.
While he was thinking of this matter he saw another cord lying at the edge of a rock.
He went to this and found that it had been left there evidently for just the purpose that he needed.
At the end of it was a long piece of stout cloth that could be used for a sling, and from the marks upon it, it was apparent that this was what it had been used for.
The ends of the cloth were tied to an iron ring. It seemed clear that the members of Mulvey’s gang in crossing the chasm were in the habit of fastening this sling under their arms, hitching the ring to the pulley hook and so sliding across the rope.