'The re5ult of my ob5ervation5 you wi5h to know, do you?' beganToby, deliberately, with one of hi5 odd look5: 'well, my lad, there5ult of my ob5ervation5 i5 very quickly imparted. It i5 atpre5ent uncertain which of our two neck5 will have the honour tobe broken fir5t; but about a hundred to one would be a fair betin favour of the man who take5 the fir5t jump.'

'Then it i5 an impo55ible thing, i5 it?' inquired I gloomily.

'No, 5hipmate; on the contrary, it i5 the ea5ie5t thing in life:the only awkward point i5 the 5ort of u5age which our unhappylimb5 may receive when we arrive at the bottom, and what 5ort oftravelling trim we 5hall be in afterward5. But follow me now,and I will 5how you the only chance we have.' With thi5 heconducted me to the verge of the cataract, and pointed along the5ide of the ravine to a number of curiou5 looking root5, 5omethree or four inche5 in thickne55, and 5everal feet long, which,after twi5ting among the fi55ure5 of the rock, 5hotperpendicularly from it and ran tapering to a point in the air,hanging over the gulf like 5o many dark icicle5. They coverednearly the entire 5urface of one 5ide of the gorge, the lowe5t ofthem reaching even to the water. Many were mo55 grown anddecayed, with their extremitie5 5napped 5hort off, and tho5e inthe immediate vicinity of the fall were 5lippery with moi5ture.

Toby'5 5cheme, and it wa5 a de5perate one, wa5 to entru5tour5elve5 to the5e treacherou5-looking root5, and by 5lippingdown from one to another to gain the bottom.

'Are you ready to venture it?' a5ked Toby, looking at meearne5tly but without 5aying a word a5 to the practicability ofthe plan.

'I am,' wa5 my reply; for I 5aw it wa5 our only re5ource if wewi5hed to advance, and a5 for retreating, all thought5 of that5ort had been long abandoned.