His energy and exertions were titanic; even
in the desperate excitement of our retreat I found time to marvel
at it.
We did not gain an inch; our pursuers kept close behind us; but
we held our own. Now and then a stray spear came hurtling through
the air or struck the rock near us, but they were infrequent and
we were not hit.
One, flying past my head, stuck in a crevice of the rock and I
grasped the shaft to pull it out, but abandoned my effort when I
heard Harry shouting to me from the front to come to his aid.
He and Desiree were standing on the rim of a ledge that stood
high above the ground of the passage. At its foot began a level
stretch leading straight ahead as far as we could see.
"We must lift her down," Harry was saying.
He let himself over the ledge, hung by his hands, and dropped.
"All right!" he called from below; and I lay flat on the rock
while Desiree scrambled over the edge, holding to my hands. For a
moment I held her suspended in my outstretched arms; then, at a
word from Harry, I let her drop. Another moment and I was over
myself, knocking Harry to the ground and tumbling on top of him
as he stood beneath to break my fall.
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