The Long Portage Part 49

"That's natural, isn't it? The idea that I'm most impressed with just now is that Millicent might believe it her duty to stick to Clarence more closely because of a tale that was merely damaging. She would never allow herself or anybody else to credit it, unless she had absolutely convincing proof."

"Yes," agreed Lisle; "I guess you're right. That's precisely why we have got to get there first."

A thicket of th.o.r.n.y vines and canes barred his way, but he went straight at the midst of it and struggled through, savagely smashing and rending down the brush. The clothes he had borrowed from Carew looked considerably the worse for wear when he came out; and then he recklessly leaped across a dark cleft the bottom of which he could not see.

Presently they left the ridge and headed away from the river, which flowed round a wide curve, and toward dawn they were brought up by a ravine. The roar of water rose hoa.r.s.ely from its depths. The moon was getting low and the silvery light did not reach far down the opposite side, but they could see a sheer, smooth wall of rock, and the width of the chasm rendered any attempt to jump it out of the question.

"No way of getting across here," decided Lisle. "At the same time, it looks as if Gladwyne must be held up on the same side that we are. We'll follow the canon; down-stream, I think."

The moonlight was getting dimmer, but, at some risk of falling into the rift, they pushed on along the brink, looking down as they went. They could see no means of descending, but at length, when rocks and trees were getting blacker and a little more distinct in the chilly dawn, they made out a fallen trunk with broken white branches lying upon a tall ma.s.s of rock below.

"I've an idea that the top of that tree reached across to this side when it first came down," Lisle said. "Have you got a match?"

Nasmyth had brought a few carefully-treasured wax matches with him, and he lighted one. It was very still, except for the roar of the hidden torrent, and the pale flame burned steadily in the motionless cold air.

It showed a couple of hollows, where something had rested, close to the edge of the rift, and one or two fresh scratches on a strip of rock.

Lisle stooped down beside them.

"Hold the thing lower!" he exclaimed sharply. "It's as I suspected--this is where Gladwyne got across; though he has better nerves than I thought he had. The broken end of a branch or two rested right here, and he was smart enough to heave the b.u.t.t off the other bank, after he'd crawled over. Looks to me as if it had broken off yonder stump. Guess there'll be light enough to look for a way across in half an hour."

Sitting down he filled his pipe, and shortly afterward he raised one hand as if listening. For a while, Nasmyth could hear nothing except the roar of water; there was not a sound that he could catch in the thin straggling bush behind them where few trails of mist were stretched athwart the trees. Then he started as a faint crackling and snapping began in the distance.

"Can it be a bear?" he asked.

"No; it's a man!"

Nasmyth was somewhat astonished. They had not seen a human being except those of their party for a long while, and it seemed strange that they should come across one now in the early dawn in those remote wilds.

"He's wearing boots," he said diffidently, as the crackling drew nearer.

"Yes," Lisle responded; "he's making a good deal more noise than a bushman would."

The sound steadily approached them. Nasmyth found something mysterious and rather eerie in it, and he was on the whole relieved when a dark figure materialized among the trees near by. He could barely see it, but Lisle called out sharply:

"What has brought you on our trail, Batley?"

The man came toward them with a breathless laugh and sat down.

"It isn't your trail but Gladwyne's I'm interested in, and I can't say that I've succeeded in following that. I merely pushed on, until I struck this canon and as I couldn't get across, I followed it up."

"You're not easily scared," Lisle commented. "You might have got lost.

Guess you had some motive that made you take the risk."

"I felt pretty safe. You see, I knew I could strike the river, if necessary. At the same time you were right about the motive--in fact, there's no use in trying to hide it. I may as well confess that I'd sooner keep Gladwyne in sight."

"Out of regard for his welfare?" Nasmyth asked.

Batley laughed.

"Not altogether. The fact is, he's carrying a good deal of my money."

"One should have imagined that you'd have had him well insured."

"That's quite correct. If he came to grief in England, I shouldn't antic.i.p.ate any trouble, but it would be different out here and, everything considered, I'd rather avoid complications with the insurance companies. Now that I've been candid, do you feel inclined to reciprocate?"

"Not in the least," Lisle replied shortly. "I'm not sure I even sympathize. But since you've turned up you'll have to stick to us; I don't want to waste time in leading another search party. As soon as there's a little more light, we'll try to get across the canon."

"Thanks for the permission," smiled Batley, lighting a cigar.

CHAPTER x.x.x

THE END OF THE PURSUIT

By degrees the light got clearer, the scattered black cedars grew into definite form, and a strip of foaming water showed in the depths of the chasm. Lisle walked some distance along the edge, searching for an easier place to cross, but the rocks were smooth and almost perpendicular except where they overhung the torrent. He went back to where the others were sitting and found that they had been joined by Crestwick, who briefly explained that having set out on their trail he had been stopped by the canon and had followed it up until it led him to them.

"It looks worse farther along; we'll have to try it here," Lisle announced. "Can you get down, Nasmyth?"

Nasmyth glanced into the rift. It was, he judged, nearly sixty feet in depth, but part of the bank on which he stood had slipped down into the stream, leaving an uneven surface by means of which an agile man might descend. A tall slab of rock, evidently part of the fallen ma.s.s, rose in a pinnacle from the water, and on top of it rested the branches of the tree that Gladwyne had used as a bridge and had afterward dislodged. The rock behind it on the opposite bank was absolutely smooth, but the thicker end of the log, which had fallen against the face, reached to within about nine feet of the summit.

"Yes," he said, answering Lisle's question; "but I'm very doubtful whether I can get up the other side. The last bit looks particularly awkward; there's an outward bulge just beneath the top."

"We might manage it by giving the leader a lift, if we got so far,"

Batley suggested, pointing to the sharp slab. "That pike should help us; I think it would go."

"You think it would go?" queried Nasmyth meaningly. "Aren't you mixing idioms? Pike's what we'd say round Wasdale, and your other expression's not uncommon in Switzerland."

Batley laughed.

"I'll own that I've done some rock work in both districts, though I was thinner then. But I've an idea that time's precious to our leader."

He lowered himself over the edge and finding foothold, went down cautiously by crack and fissure, while the others followed with some trouble. Alighting waist-deep in a frothing rush of water, he was driven for a few yards down-stream, and it was only by seeking the support of the rock that he slowly made head against the torrent. Lisle joined him when he reached the foot of the pinnacle, where they stopped to gather breath with a thin shower of spray whirling about them. The light was still dim down in the bottom of the chasm, and the ma.s.s of rock ran up above them, shadowy, black and almost smooth.

Wasting no time in examination, Lisle flung himself upon it, seeking for a grip with elbows and knees. He had ascended a yard or two when he lost hold and coming down with a run fell with a splash into the stream.

"I didn't think you'd manage it that way," Batley remarked. "The edge appears a little more promising."

He went up, with Lisle following, finding hold for knees and fingers, while Nasmyth and Crestwick, panting heavily, encouraged each other below. On reaching the top of the pinnacle, Batley lay upon it and gave Lisle his hand; and when he had drawn him up he pointed to the tree.

"I'll go first, for reasons that will become apparent later," he explained. "Hold on to the log; it doesn't seem firmly fixed."

The tree was small and when Lisle shook it the b.u.t.t moved against the face of the rock, which was separated by a broad gap from the top of the fallen ma.s.s. Batley was heavy, but he ascended cautiously, while Lisle leaned upon the log to steady it. Then, calling Nasmyth to take his place, Lisle went up. When he was near the top, it looked as if their progress must abruptly cease. The b.u.t.t was narrow and the summit of the rock above it projected somewhat. There was not the smallest k.n.o.b or crevice one could grasp, and below them in the shadowy rift the torrent boiled furiously among ma.s.sy stones. It was not a place to slip in.

Batley, however, rose very carefully, with his feet upon the shattered b.u.t.t and his hands pressed against the rock, until he stood almost upright.

"You'll have to climb up over me until you can get your fingers on the top," he said. "Take time when you get up and feel for a good hold."