A loud shout of derision greeted their failure; and as hands were raised in loading, shot after shot was discharged at the ledge, but also without effect. Wahika was first ready to fire again. Murray's hand trembled so from excitement that he was long in preparing; and then they took aim again at the uppermost convict, who they found, to their dismay, had gained the shelf, and was reaching down to help his companion, who was toiling patiently after him. Two steps, a strong drawing up of the hands, and he was within reach, so that he could grasp the other, and in another minute destruction would have been certain for the fugitives, when simultaneously Murray and Wahika discharged their pieces, and Katie hid her face in her hands, for there was a strange surging movement in the higher convict, who pulled his companion upward for a few inches, and then seemed to bow forward, gliding over the edge of the precipice, the two falling from crag to crag, full sixty feet, to roll over at last, crushed and helpless, among the ferns and long grass. A cry of rage followed this defeat; and darting from behind a stone, another man began fiercely to scale the side, climbing actively till he had nearly reached the same height as his companions, and then, escaping a couple of bullets, taking a leap which landed him upon a jutting mass, behind which he glided; but the next moment his gun-barrel was raised, with his cap thereon, by way of signal to his companions, who greeted it with a cheer. Then Murray saw it withdrawn, and an ominous silence followed. But the suspense was not of long duration; for before Murray or the savage could see sufficient of their enemy to take an aim, a puff of smoke seemed to jet out from the rock, and Murray was conscious of a sharp twinge on the shoulder, a bullet having passed through his coat and grazed the skin. He remained motionless though, his eye glancing along the barrel of his gun, as he waited for a good opportunity for delivering his shot, but in vain. Twice or thrice he saw the motion of a lifted arm, as of one loading his piece, and then again came a shot, and the puff of smoke, only visible as it darted outward, and then gently floated up on the still morning air. This bullet was wider of the mark, but a dull feeling of despair seized upon Murray, as, leaving his gun, he glided back to where Katie crouched, telling himself that he could not die with her so close at hand, without a farewell. No words, though, were uttered, as he took the weeping girl to his heart; and then, softly unclasping the arms that tightened round his neck, he left her, whispering the words, "Pray for us!" As Murray retook his place, another bullet almost instantly struck up the splinters of stone, blinding him for a few minutes, and compelling him to wipe the blood from his face.