Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-09-11

the edge of the cliff and pushed out
until the trunk protruded over the
| wall for a distance of about four feet
| directly above the ledge on which I
| had left my injured companion. Then
began piling the biggest rock could
carry onto the branches of the tree
until / had the inner end securely
weighted down with fully half a ton
of rock.
This part of the work completed,
went to the side car, got out the 49,
foot rope we carried, and hung it over
the end of the tree trunk to dangle
into the gulch. To one end of the rope
tied heavy canvas sea bag that
| we used to carry our bedding in, tying
| it so as to leave one side Of the mouth
| open.
Then I went down the wall and Sc
| cured the other end of the rope to
| Fleacher's body, taking the rope
| around under his thighs so as to form
sort Of seat. and tying him again
under the arms so there could be no
| possibility of his dropping off.
With this crude hosting rig set up.
| climbed to the top of the cliff to
begin carrying out the desperate plan
that knew must terminate either in
success or in a failure that meant in
slant death for my companion on the
jagged rocks at the base of the preci-
pice. l began gathering rocks from
the size of a goose egg to the size of a
mans head and piled them into the
sea bag.
The rope frightened on Fletcher's
body and as ] continued to pile rocks
into the bag 1 could hear him groan.
This was the psychological moment
for me to make a success of the job,
and with feverish haste dumped adj
ditional rocks into the bag. Presently
the rope slipped little over the trunk
of the mesquite tree, and as 1 added
one more big rock to the collection
already in the bag Fletcher's pros
trate form swung clear of the cliff.
The weight of the rocks in the bag
just a little more than counter-bal-
anced the' weight of the man, but
was scarcely enough to overcome the
friction OF the rope against the tree.
| gave a pull on the end of the rope
from which Fletcher was dangling,
and, very slowly, up he came, while
down went the bag of stones. In an
other two minutes his shoulders were
touching the trunk of the mesquite
tree, and I faced the difficult problem
of getting him over the edge of the
cliff safely and at the same time get
ting rid of the bag of stones, which
now dangled in midair.
n X
WITH this much of the task safely
w accomplished. didn't propose to
take any chances of letting my plans
go wrong. The slightest miscarriage
meant letting Fletcher fall over the
face Of the cliff-something that I had
taken careful precautions to avoid.
had previously secured short length
of rope to a large branch of the mes
quite tree, and as soon as his Shout
ders touched the trunk / lashed the
free end of this line under his arms
to prevent the possibility of his fall
ing hack into the hole.
| should have TO lift him from the
end of the tree-trunk on to the solid
rock of the cliff--an operation that
could not hope to accomplish with one |
hand, while slashing the rope with the
other. Accordingly. l had a different |
plan already to put into operation. i
From the motorcycle l had withdrawn |
cupful of gasoline. and as Fletcher's |
shoulders came against the tree-trunk, !
I poured the motor fuel down the !
rope over the end from which dangled !
the bag of stones.
Then l applied a lighted match, took |
dln'Srlp upon the rope-endS ABOUT !
Fletcher's body, braced myself for the ,
strain. and waited for the line to burn !
through.
In that strained position ] waited as
the slowly-passing seconds heightened
into full minute. / felt the heat |
from the fire, and was almost suffo-
Gated with the fumes of the burning
motor fuel that came directly ur into
my face. I waited and waited until
was almost to the point of thinking
that fire was a useless agent in de-
stroying manila rope-and then,
suddenly. the line parted!
The bag of stones crashed on to the
floor of the gulch below, and with a
single terrific heave that all but un-
balanced me. threw Fletcher clear of
the edge of the cliff and landed him in
a heap in the branches of the mes
quite tree. We were clear of our
at last, and with the full
Of it l shouted for JOY as
I struck the ropes off my companion
with my hunting-knife. In another
minute had hustled him into the
pressed the starter Of the