Page:The Campaign of the Jungle.djvu/274



chagrined, man and boy stood on the brink of the chasm before them and gazed at the other side. It was sloping, as Larry had said, and wet, which was worse. A jump, even for a trained athlete, would have been perilous in the extreme.

"Looks like we were stumped," remarked Leroy, laconically.

"And just as we were so near to yonder opening!" cried Larry, vexed beyond endurance. "If we only had a plank, or something."

He looked around, but nothing was at hand but the bare stone walls, with here and there a patch of dirt and a loose stone. He walked to one end of the hole.

"A fellow might climb along yonder shelf if he were a cat," he said dismally. "But I don't believe a human being could do it."

"No, and don't you go for to try it," put in the