He had clambered from ledge to ledge with great skill and address; but he had not troubled himself to make sure, in the excitement of the ascent, that it was possible to descend in the same manner. He had been tempted on to really difficult places, and suddenly he had found himself upon a narrow rocky ridge whence he could make no step either forward or backward. His last step had been a fragment of rock that had given way as he quitted it, and he had narrowly escaped a fall that must have proved fatal. But his present position was perilous enough to threaten his safety, and, as is so often the case in the presence of real danger, giddiness seized upon him, and he clung to the hard rock with convulsive terror, and called aloud in his fright. Queenie’s shriek of terror brought David quickly to their side, and he at once realized the peril of Phil’s position; but he knew better than the children what to do, and the emergency seemed to give him courage and presence of mind beyond his years. “Hold on! hold on, Master Phil!” he shouted. “Shut your eyes and hold on for ten minutes. There’s plenty of foothold there; and if you’ll just keep quiet and not look up or down, we’ll do something for you directly.” And then, calling the others to follow, he commenced climbing the cliff path with the agility of a goat. Bertie was not much behind, and Queenie, to whom terror lent wings, arrived closely in their wake. In a basket left up at the top of the cliff was a coil of rope of very fair strength. David had brought it in case it might be needed, and it was well indeed that he had done so. In a few words he explained his plan. “It’s no good Master Phil trying to catch the rope if we let it down to him. He’s much too giddy for one thing, and for another the edge overhangs a bit here, and he never could reach it if he hadn’t all his wits about him. I’m going to tie it round my waist and clamber down to him. It’s not easy to get down from the top, but it can be done with a rope round one pretty safely. When I get to him I’ll put the rope on him and you’ll draw him up between you; he’ll climb too, of course, but the rope will help him and keep him safe. Then you’ll let it down for me, and make it swing backwards and forwards till I can reach it. I shan’t be giddy, I’ll get it right enough, and the three of you can help me up, I know, and we’ll all be all right then.” David had spoken with a rapidity and energy quite foreign to his ordinary nature, whilst the pressure of excitement and responsibility was upon him; and as he spoke he was unwinding the rope and making a slip knot at one end; but before he had tied it round himself Bertie had stopped him.