Under foot were loose fragments of stone. Guy picked up one of these and tossed it over the edge. A faint splash was distinctly heard a few seconds later.
“The river is directly beneath us,” said the colonel.
He picked up another stone, and moving off a few yards, cast it down. This time it struck something hard after the same interval.
“There must be a shore to the river,” he said. “What shall we do now? Follow the top of the cliff in the other direction?”
“No,” said Guy. “We must scale the precipice right here.”
“Impossible!” declared Forbes. “Our ropes are not long enough.”
“Canaris has two more,” replied Guy; “go and get them.”
Melton hurried off at once.
The raft was close at hand, and in five minutes he was back.
“Here are the ropes,” he said. “Canaris tied them together and tossed up one end.”