In Barracks and Wigwam — page 187: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

= Dawnay. “But ain’t there a safer way for it than to climb that dizzy precipice?” “No, that’s the only outlet,” Linn replied. ‘The val- ley down below 1s full of Indians, and there are certainly a good many left on guard above. It we tried to escape in either direction we would be discovered and shot. Come, Reily, it’s getting on toward midnight, and what we have to do will require considerable time.” : A brief and affecting scene followed. Low whispered farewells were said, and the three troopers who were to stay behind clasped the hands of the two comrades who were starting on a mission of grave peril. Then, each with a brace of loaded revolvers in his belt, Linn and Reily pulled themselves to a narrow ledge shortly above the left-hand corner of the parapet, and from there gained a strip of bushes and pine-shoots still higher up. The trying task was now fairly begun, and the daring climbers were speedily concealed from the eyes of their watching comrades below. With steady nerves and un- | erring skill, they mounted higher and higher, seeking holds for feet and hands with the quickness and agility . of wild goats. The darkness of the night proved both a help and a hindrance, for while it screened them from the view of keen-eyed Indians, it added to the difficulty of choos- ing a safe and speedy path. By daylight a nimble and strong-headed schoolboy might have scaled the cliff without much risk. It sloped upward at a slight angle, and its face was scared with knobs of rock and zig-zag crevices and partly covered with tough grass and scrub and stunted pine trees. “Don’t look down,” Linn whispered to his companion, i after he had incautiously let himself catch a glimpse of the yawning gulf below. “Be careful to keep your eyes A Perilous Climb. 177 it Wak Hae Ss 3 + wie A ‘ i rc ~My . " 7 as (a . .% r A , 7 . a Py " & y . Wp ste Pe a ras iv. ae. soe £44 Tao — oP ae As Bee ~: Le & 2 4 har ee ? fF \ a TO a "| €omicbooks.co