Of the three trees that fortunately grew upon the column of rock, two were evidently too short to reach across the gulf from where they stood. But the third was close to the edge, and towered well above its fellows; so this was the one Bry selected. A woodsman would probably have laughed at the strokes dealt by the Sulu; but Bry knew what he was about, for he had chopped trees in this way before. Too hard a blow would have crushed the stone edge of the weapon, and a prying motion would have broken it at once; so the black struck straight and true, and not with too much force, and slowly but surely wore through the stalwart trunk of the tree. When the axe got dull he unbound the bark thongs and exchanged it for the other, while Nux re-sharpened it. This consumed a good deal of time, and the day was far advanced before Bry decided that the chopping was deep enough to allow them to fell the tree. This they did in a peculiar way, for Nux climbed into the high branches and then, aided by Bry and me, who pushed from below, he began swaying the tree back and forth, his own weight adding to the strain, until suddenly it gave way at the stump and—slowly at first, but with ever accelerating speed—fell with a crash across the gulf. It looked like a trying and dangerous position for Nux; but the black cleverly kept on the outer side of the branches, which broke his fall so perfectly that even as the tree touched the cliff he sprang to the ground safe and uninjured. “Hooray!” I shouted, in delight; for this bridge removed from my heart all terrors of starvation and imprisonment, affording us a means of leaving the islet of rock as soon as we pleased to go. But the sun was even now sinking below the horizon; so we decided not to effect the crossing until morning. Nux climbed back over the swaying trunk, and after he had rejoined us we ate the last crumbs of food we possessed for our supper and then lay down to sleep. Having passed the day in idleness I found I was not very tired or sleepy; but the blacks were thoroughly exhausted by their labors, and they welcomed the rest as only weary men can. Long after they were snoring I sat in the moonlight thinking of our strange adventures of the past twenty-four hours; the recovery of the gold, the destruction of the robbers, and our present means of release from the dangerous pinnacle that had threatened to hold us fast prisoners. And I realized, with a grateful heart, that I owed all of my good fortune and narrow escapes to the faithful black men, and made a vow that I would never in the future forget the services they had rendered. CHAPTER XV. THE MAJOR GIVES CHASE. Meantime there had been much excitement and confusion in the camp when it was discovered that several of the men, including Nux and Bry, and even “the boy Sam,” had disappeared during the night with most of the gold dust that had been accumulated.