Chapter XXVI: The Brink of the Abyss

A huge piece of the cliff had struck the bridge and the structure, never too strong at the best, collapsed under the blow.

As Cameron Flood felt the bridge give way under him, he made a desperate spring for the plateau.

The distance was too great. He struck the side of the plateau with his chest, his outstretched hands clutching some withered grasses growing near the edge on the surface above, to which he clung with the tenacity of despair. There he hung, swinging to and fro over the fearful chasm hundreds of feet in depth.

It had been said of Slim Tyler that his thinking processes could run rings around lightning. A fond exaggeration of his friends! But he proved his quickness now.

In a flash he had seen that Cameron Flood could not clear the space from the sinking bridge to the plateau. Simultaneously with Flood's spring, Slim had thrown himself flat on the ground.

"Sit on my legs," he roared to Dick and Jerry.

The grasses that Flood had clutched gave way almost immediately beneath his weight. But before they had completely yielded, Slim Tyler's hands had closed on Flood's wrists with a grip of steel.

"I've got you!" he cried. "Don't struggle. I'll pull you up."

Flood obeyed, and inch by inch Slim Tyler hauled him up.

It was a terrific task, for Flood had had the breath knocked out of him by his impact against the side of the plateau and was a dead weight.

Slim felt as though his arms were being wrenched from their sockets. If it had not been for the weight of Dick and Jerry on his legs, he would have been pulled over the edge, and he and Flood would have gone down to the depths together.

Strainingly, Slim Tyler drew his burden up until Flood could rest his elbows on the edge of the plateau. That helped. Then another heart-breaking pull until Flood could throw one leg over. One final tug and Slim had drawn him to safety.

The young aviator rolled over on his back, panting, gasping, utterly exhausted from the terrible mental and physical strain. The fervent thanks of Flood, the admiring exclamations of Dick and Jerry, seemed to come to him from far away. It seemed as though he could never get breath enough into his laboring lungs. Fully five minutes elapsed before he could speak. Then he sat up and smiled faintly.

"Guess we'd better be getting on," he said.

"Just like that!" exclaimed Dick. "Just done the quickest, nerviest, pluckiest thing I ever saw, and thinks no more of it than just to remark that he thinks 'we'd better be getting on.' You just can't make a hero of that boy. He won't let you. Put him on a pedestal and he kicks the pedestal over and comes down."

"Oh, shucks!" deprecated Slim. "The chance just came to me and I took it. Nothing to write home about."

"He's hopeless," pronounced Jerry, shaking his head.

"You saved my life, Slim," said Cameron Flood earnestly, "and I'll never forget it. It was a wonderful exhibition of coolness, courage and swift action. I shall be your debtor as long as I live."

"I'm mighty glad I had the chance," replied Slim. "How are you feeling now? All right?"

"Rather battered, but still in the ring," replied Flood, as he rose with the rest to continue their journey.

"I think," said Slim, "it would be a good idea to fire the three shots in succession that we agreed upon in case Jerry were found."

The suggestion was followed, and as sound carried far in that silent region, it was not long before answering shots told that the rest of the searchers were hurrying in their direction.

Dave Boyd with his group was the first to reach them, and it was with a wild cry of delight that Dave recognized Jerry and rushed forward to fold him in his arms.

"Thank heaven!" he cried. "Jerry, my boy, I'd almost given you up. Those three shots were the sweetest music I ever heard. Now we've got all the old bunch together again. This Greenland trip would have been utterly spoiled for me if anything had happened to any one of you."

"Two more might have been missing from the list every easily," remarked Dick. "A polar bear nearly nabbed Slim and Mr. Flood came within an ace of falling into a gorge. But luck was with us."

"I should say that Slim Tyler was with us," amended Flood. "He shot the bear through the brain, making an almost impossible shot, and he saved me from dropping into the chasm. Apart from that, he didn't do anything much."

"Trust that lad to be always on the job," observed Dave Boyd. "It was a lucky day when I met him. But let's get along to the camp before it grows too dark to see."

It was a jubilant party that gathered about the supper table that night and went over the events of the day. A fearful weight had been lifted from the minds of all. What was painful in the past had been wiped out. The present was serene. The future could take care of itself.

No opportunity had yet been afforded Slim to speak to Cameron Flood about the lumber deal in which the father of each had been concerned. In the anxiety about Jerry Marbury, that had been shoved to the back of Slim's mind. But after supper, as he was sitting next to Flood before a roaring fire that had been built outdoors, the young aviator broached the subject.

"Mr. Flood," he said, "have you ever heard of Nat Shaley?"

Flood started.