It was too late, of course, to attempt anything that evening. But the following afternoon was a half-holiday with us, and quite apt to our purpose. In the interval we secured some candles and a box of the friction matches then lately come into use, as also, privately, Uncle Jenico’s geological hammer, a sturdy tool with a heavy butt and a long steel pick to balance its head. And with these, and nothing else whatever but our trust in ourselves, we issued forth after a hasty early dinner, and no word said to anybody, to dare and do. We had resolved, after consultation, to make the attempt from above rather than below; because, in the first place, we should be less likely to attract attention, and, in the second, because a descent of twenty feet appeared easier of accomplishment than a climb of thirty up that slippery glacis. So we started, unregarded of any one, as we supposed, by way of the valley, and were not long in reaching the brow of the Mitre where it overlooked the well and the recent landfall. It was all strangely altered here, and, near the edge, risky footing at the best. But we stole up cautiously, and, going upon our stomachs the last yard or two, looked down. Below us, at a rather giddy distance, projected some spars and ledges of the fractured masonry. Fortunately, however, the interval between us and them was not balked by any bulge in the cliff, but showed a smooth descent, and not too sheer for the essay. Still, it did not do to dwell upon it. “Are you ready?” I whispered. “I’m going down.” “No, you aren’t,” said Harry. “Me first.” I only answered by crooking my elbow to keep him back. “Don’t be a fool!” he protested. “We shall break away, and both go faster than we want, if you aren’t careful.” I made no reply but to resist him doggedly, till at last, with a grunt, he let me go, and I turned, lying flat-faced, and swung my legs over the precipice. “O, you old brute!” he said. “Well, go easy, then, and dig your toes in.” And with that I let go and slid away, clawing and scratching like a cat coming down a tree. It was just to fasten on and commit one’s self to luck, which, fortunately for me, directed my feet to a ledge, on which I brought up, gasping and spitting out dirt. But once secure of my hold, and in a state to look about me, I was relieved to find that the position was much more possible than it had seemed either from above or below, the projecting spits of stonework being more and more pronounced than had showed at a distance. I took a minute to get my wind, and then called up to Harry to follow; but he was already on his way. I saw him coming at a risky pace, and by a slightly divergent course, which he had taken to avoid me. It would have carried him clear of the ruin altogether had I not, at the psychologic moment, clapped my hand to the seat of his small-clothes and checked his descent. “O!” he howled, “let go!” “I won’t!” I cried. “Don’t be an ass! Stick your foot out here!”