“Get hold of my leg,” the other boy said, and he stuck one leg out. I didn’t say a word. It seemed to me that if I spoke even, Pee-wee might fall. I didn’t want him to look up at me, I was afraid he’d tumble if he did. He was crawling so careful, and he was so scared, that it seemed as if anything might topple him over. I just held my breath while I was waiting. He grabbed hold of the boy’s leg, then he got hold of him round the waist. I just looked at that fellow’s hands, the way they were clutching hold of the rock. Oh, _did I hope_ he wouldn’t let go! Pee-wee climbed up on his shoulders and got hold of another rock and then the man who was reaching over was just able to get hold of one of the kid’s arms. Oh, that was risky work! Then that boy let go one of his hands--gee it gave me the _creeps_--and he reached up and held Pee-wee’s foot on his shoulder. Then he sort of guided the kid’s foot up to a smaller chunk of rock that stuck out. All the while the man had hold of Pee-wee’s arm. The next I knew the poor kid came scrambling up over the edge--he didn’t even see me. Even when I spoke he didn’t notice me. He just fell down flat on the ground--I thought he fainted but he didn’t. I was just going to shout down that Pee-wee was safe all right when I heard a noise and somebody called, “_Righto._” I looked over the edge and that other boy wasn’t there. Somebody called up, “Where’s the kid? Is he all right?” “Tell ’em yes only my leg’s cut and I had a hair-breadth escape,” the kid said. I had to laugh the way he said it. “That movie boy fell down I think,” I said to the man. He went to the edge and shouted, “How about it down there?” Sandy--I think it was Sandy--called back, “He’s all right--this one’s all right. How about the kid?” “Did you tell ’em I had a hair-breadth escape from death?” Pee-wee asked me. I just mussed up his hair with my hand--gee it was bad enough already--and I had to laugh, I just couldn’t help it. “You crazy little rascal,” I said to him. “Don’t ever talk about the Silver Foxes being crazy again. Do you think you can walk?” “Anyway I showed him Boy Scouts are all right,” the kid said. “Actions speak louder than words, hey?” “Your words are always loud enough,” I said. “You don’t need to bother about actions. After this stick to words. Come on, see if you can get up and I’ll help you down into the chasm.” Already the man had gone down in a hurry. CHAPTER XX THE FULL SALUTE Pee-wee had a lot of scratches on him--he looked as if he had crawled through a nutmeg grater. He was kind of lame too. But he was all right. He said it was a mortal peril he was in. “It wasn’t so terribly mortal,” he said, “because I didn’t get killed, but I almost did so it was kind of mortal.” “After this when you go out with me I’m going to have you on a leash,” I told him.