Garth crouched at the water's edge, striving to pierce the murk with his
eyes; but the blackness was like a wall. By and by the outlying embers
of the fire began to glow faintly; but there was another splash, and
every spark was quenched. Bending his head, he strained his ears. For a
long time there was no sound from across the river; then little by
little, and softly, he heard them set to work like mice behind a
wainscot. There was a singular, measured falling of stones, which at
first he could not interpret; then it suddenly occurred to him they were
building a barricade across their little terrace; and he took heart; for
the act was opposed to any design of immediate flight. But then, he
thought, Mary, behind the wall, could easily hold the crossing by
daylight, while the two men escaped with Natalie. Somehow, he must get
across first.
He searched noiselessly among the stones above the water line for
driftwood; and succeeded in picking up a stick here and a branch there.
Four of the stouter pieces he tied in a square with the rope that bound
his pack; and upon this frame he piled a crib of sticks, of sufficient
buoyancy to float his clothes, his pack and his gun. He stripped to the
skin and waded cautiously into the water. It was of an icy coldness that
bit like a great burn, and forced the breath out of his lungs like a
squeezed bellows. But he set his jaws and struck out, towing his little
raft with the end of the rope between his teeth.
He headed straight across, leaving it to the current to carry him safely
below the camp. Ordinarily, fifty strokes would have carried him over,
but the terrible cold congealed the very sap of his body; and the clumsy
little raft offered as much resistance as a log. He could not tell how
far he was carried down. Reaching the other side at last, he could
scarcely crawl out on the stones. He was too stiff to attempt to draw on
his clothes; the best he could do was to roll in his blankets, and
writhe to restore the circulation.
His limbs were rigid; his feet and hands wholly numb--but the will rules
even bodily exhaustion. He would not tolerate the thought of weakness;
he _would_ get warm; and his reluctant blood was forced at last to
resume its course through his veins. Warmth returned with excruciating
pain. He conceded his worn body a little rest--for he knew they could
not get their horses before morning--but in an hour, dressed, and with
his pack and his gun on his back, he was crawling back toward Grylls's
camp.
This shore of the river, like the other, was formed of fragments and
masses of rock, which had fallen from the cliffs above. He made his way
with infinite caution, giving heed to every foothold, and feeling before
him with his hands. Fortunately there was little snow to obstruct him;
for what had descended into the gorge was lodged in the crevices of the
stones. He crawled over heaps of rubble, digging his toes in, to keep
from sliding into the water; and there were great hundred-ton boulders,
over which he dragged himself on his stomach. Above the canyon there
were no stars visible; and below, it was wrapped in darkness, thick,
velvety, palpable as lamp-black.
After measuring the inches of a long and painful journey over the
stones, he sensed at last that he was drawing near the camp again. He
redoubled his caution, hugging close to the wall of rock. Presently it
fell away to the right; and before him he distinguished a faint whitish
blur that he knew for the tepee. He stretched himself out to listen.
Under all was the deadened boom of the falls; below him an indefinable
murmur arose from the smooth river, and an occasional eddy slapped the
stones; in front he was vaguely conscious of the three persons moving to
and fro, and he heard the dull chink of each stone, as it ground its
edges on the pile. They had relaxed their caution somewhat; once or
twice a stone, rolling out of place, plumped into the water. They were
at work at the other end of their barricade from Garth.
He considered what he should do. His brain was working very
clearly--dragging his exhausted body along after, as it were; for
excitement and over-exertion had produced a curious feeling of
detachment from it. As he waited there, the work on the barricade
ceased; and a whispered consultation was held. If he could only hear!
Afterward two figures approached the tepee and entered. Instantly
Garth let himself down over the rocks behind, and snaking his body
through the bit of herbage on the flat, applied his ear to the
bottom of the canvas.