"Rope
climbing is a thing that only comes with practice; and as to
nervousness, most landsmen are afraid to trust themselves to a rope at
all. Did you open your eyes?"
"Not once, Sahib. I kept my arms out, as you told me, but I did not
touch anything. I could feel that I was spinning round and round, and
was horribly frightened just at first. But I went down so smoothly and
quietly that the feeling did not last long; for I knew that the rope
was very strong, and as I did not touch anything, it seemed to me that
there could be no fear of it being cut against the rock."
The clothes were soon unwound from the rope, and put on again. Captain
Holland cut off all the slack of the rope, and made it into a coil.
"The slope is all right, as far as I could see from the top," he said;
"but we may come across nasty bits again, and this will stand in
useful, if we do."
They went down cautiously, but at a fair rate of speed; until, without
meeting with any serious difficulty, they arrived on the plain. Four
miles' brisk walking brought them to the grove where Ibrahim had been
left, and they had scarce entered among the trees when he asked:
"Who is it that is coming?"
"It is us, Ibrahim.
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