But there was no time for deliberation or the weighing of
chances, and we turned and made for the pile of rocks, with the
Incas rushing after us.
There Desiree and I halted in despair, but with a great oath
Harry brushed us aside and leaped upon a rock higher than his
head with incredible agility. Then, lying flat on his face and
extending his arms downward over the edge, he pulled first
Desiree, then myself, up after him. The whole performance had
occupied a scant two seconds, and, waiting only to pick up the
three spears he had thrown up the sloping surface of the rock to
another yet higher and steeper.
"Why don't we hold them here?" I demanded. "They could never
come up that rock with us on top."
Harry looked at me.
"Spears," he said briefly; and, of course, he was right. They
would have picked us off like birds on a limb.
We scaled the second rock with extreme difficulty, Harry
assisting both Desiree and me; and as we stood upright on its top
I saw the Incas scrambling over the edge of the one below. Two or
three of them had already started to cross; many more were coming
up from behind; and one, as he made the top and arose to his
feet, braced himself on the sloping rock and raised a spear high
above his head.
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