"He is moving, I saw him lift his hand!" He then shouted out: "Hullo!
Croil, we are coming to help you."
It was a great relief to know that the lad was alive, though it made us
still more anxious for the return of Sandy. At last he appeared. Now
came the question, Who should descend? It was a hazardous task. Sandy
insisted on going down, but I felt that I would much rather descend than
have to hold the rope.
"No, no," said Sandy, "I'll trust you. I'll stick this stake into the
ground, and if you hold on to the upper end the rope will be firm
enough."
While we were securing the rope as Sandy proposed, a man with another
length of rope came running towards us. It was fortunate he brought it,
for the first was not sufficiently long to reach the bottom. Our
preparations were speedily made, and Sandy, with the activity of a
sailor, sliding over the edge of the cliff, glided down by the rope
until he reached the spot where Croil lay. I fancied that I heard him
shout out for help, so I told Ewen to hold on to the stake, and, taking
hold of the rope, slid down as Sandy had done. I saw him, as I reached
the bottom, supporting Croil in his arms.
"I did not want you to come, Hugh, but as you are here, you can help me
in getting up the laddie. There is still life in him, but he has had a
shaking which might have broken every bone in his body, though I cannot
discover that any are broken. We must hoist him up gently, for he
cannot bear any rough handling, that's certain."
I suggested that we should make a cradle from the wreck of the boat
which had tempted Croil to try to reach the beach.
Sandy had some small line in his pocket; I also had another piece, and
Dick Black--the man who had come to our assistance--had brought a whole
coil, which he threw down to us. We soon formed a cradle, in which we
placed the lad, securing it to the end of the rope. We had, besides
this, lines sufficient to enable me to stand below and assist to guide
it in its ascent. Sandy then swarmed up to the top, and he and our two
companions began to hoist away while I guided the cradle from below. I
was thankful to see Croil at length safely placed on the top of the
cliff. The rope was then let down, and making a bow line in which I
could sit, I shouted to the rest to haul away. I felt rather
uncomfortable as I found myself dangling in mid-air, for fear the rope
should get cut by the rocks, but I reached the top without accident. I
was thankful to find that Croil had come to himself, though unable to
describe how he had fallen.
"We must mark this spot, to come back for that wood; it will be a
perfect god-send to us, for we shall want every scrap of fuel we can
find," I observed.
The cradle enabled us to carry Croil without difficulty to the cave,
where my brother at once attended to him.
Wonderful as it seemed, not a bone in his body was broken, nor had his
spine received any injury, which Andrew at first thought might be the
case. He thus hoped that the lad might get round and in a short time be
as well as ever. He was far more anxious about the mate, who still
remained in a precarious condition.
Supper over and a watch being set, we all lay down inside the cave, with
our feet to the fire which blazed in front of it. And thus passed the
third night of our residence on the island.