"Haul away!" shouted Guy.
Leslie and the Russian did so, till Guy felt the strain transferred from the stranded rope to the one with which he, too, was secured.
"Stand by!" shouted Guy, then boldly slipping out of his bowline he commenced to crawl towards his companions, keeping within arm's length of the rope in case of the ice giving way again.
[Illustration: He could see Ranworth dangling inertly at the end of the first rope.
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"All together!" was the cry, when the intrepid lad added his strength to that of Leslie and Petrovitch on the rope.
Slowly Ranworth's head and shoulders appeared above the brink of the crevasse, then helpless as a log, the leader of the expedition was unceremoniously dragged over the edge and across the ice to safety.
Nearly frozen, and sorely bruised, Ranworth was assisted back to the sleigh. For the time being he was incapable of taking charge. Upon Guy as helmsman and Leslie as engineer depended the navigation of the Bird of Freedom, and between them and the object of their unexpected expedition lay the dreaded and seemingly impassable crevasse.