When he had passed these, he stepped out briskly, and in less than an
hour from starting they were near the edge of the precipice. Their
eyes had, by this time, become accustomed to the darkness.
"We are just there now," Captain Holland said. "But we must go very
cautiously, for the rock falls sheer away, without warning. Ah! There
is the edge, a few yards ahead of me.
"Now, do you stay where you are, while I feel about for that spear
head I put in to mark the place. It had about three feet of the staff
on it. If it were not for that, there would be small chance of finding
it. I know it is somewhere close here."
In a few minutes he returned to them.
"I have found it," he said. "Keep close behind me."
After walking for fifty yards, he stopped.
"Here it is, lads.
"Now give me those spears, Dick."
He thrust them firmly into the ground, a few inches apart.
"Throw your weight on them, too," he said. "That is right. Now they
will stand many times the strain we shall put on them.
"I have chosen this place, Dick, for two reasons. In the first place,
because it is the most perpendicular, and in the second, because the
soil and grass project slightly over the edge of the rock.
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