Evening star., 1927-11-13
n Sandstone Walls Is Prison 700 Feet Above Ground

ness before my eyes. pulled myself
over and lay upon my stomach, my
feet hanging into eternity.
During painting. prayerful moments
L lay there. Then. with my knife.
cut all the vines that I could reach
an that grew upon the ledge. and
threw them across the chasm TO the
cleft. | waited. TO recover my breath
ana steel my muscles: then crouched.
ana with my arms outstretched leaped
back 10 the cleft. II was a mighty
euort, Tor | was unable to stand
unable 10 take even single step
forward, or 10 brace myself for the
leap.
My knees struck the side Of the
cliff. and with all the strength of my
body concentrated in my shoulders
and arms | hurled myself forward and
clunG to the edge. weakening every
second. Gradually I was slipping
backward. In a flash caught sight
Of IL tiny crevasse a yard To nv right.
and. with it as final hope. let go
with one hand and swung toward IL.
I caught there: other unevennesses
in the rock came to light. and within
a few minutes / was lying I'm the
cleft. bruised. bleeding and practical.
ly unconscious. hut alivei
Overcome by the strain NJ the 'Wp
leaps, l lay face downward. For half
teacup OF water | would have given
all the turquoises of the Southwest:
for an empty tobacco sack to chew on,
all its silver.
TOWARD early afternoon I cut the
vines and twisted and tied them
into a rope as long and as strong
as possible. tore my shirt and
trousers into strips to reinforce the
knots, and to lengthen my rope. With
my knife l cut circular thongs from
the sides of my boots, rolling them
between two fiat rocks to make thena
smooth.
These and the lacing thongs ] used
to secure the thick end OF my "rope'
to a point of rock near the edge OF the
cliff Then 1 padded the thongs with
the vine leaves, so that the sharp
edges Of the rock, or any possible rub
bing, might not cut them through so
readily.
i dropped the rope over the edge.
1t reached, 1 judged. TO within perhaps
] ) feet of the nearest point at which
l could land with any safety. Still. I
could do no better. I placed the re-
mains of my boots upon a rock be-
meath the cliff, and after last look up
and down the canyon. and a ringing
curse at the buZZards overhead, slipped
over the edge.
l went down as rapidly as possible.
| hand over hand, gripping the thin
vines more by will power than
strength. 1 did not look down. nor did
I glance above me. l faced the wall,
| fearing that the next instant the vine
would part. / was nearing the thin
part of my rope, and feeling that I
was near it's end. when the vines
parted, and broke sharply about yard
above my hands. At that moment l
struck and collapsed against the in
cline of the cliff.
The line had reached farther down
than I had judged. / saw niche at
one ide, jut of rock at the other
always there seems to be a way-and
clutched at both of them. / held, and
my feet and knees found secure holds.
Often I made slips that brought my
heart to my throat; often short falls
against Jagged rocks stunned and
number my legs or shoulders. Some
time that afternoon l reached the bot
tom Of the Canyon de los Muertos, and
I knew no more until was awakened
during the nioht by the cold. The
moon was high, and the fresh desery
air, although increasing the pain of
my bruises and cuts, dried the blood
and revived me. / half crawled. half
walked the half mile TO my camp be-
meath the shelter of great. leaning
cliff, crept between my blankets and
knew no more.
Today, when shipwrecks. fights with
head hunters and Arab bandits have
Injured me to the dangers of adventure.
/ still believe that the SLOW calculated
prospect of death is the hardest to
bear: and look upon those two days
in the mock dwelling of the cliff
dwellers as the most grueling debate
with death that I have ever en-
countered.
] tCopyright 1927