'
"I tied the stone to the end of the turban, and looked over. A
noncommissioned officer of the police was already standing below. I
lowered the stone; he took it, waved his hand to me, and was gone.
"An hour passed: it seemed an age. The round shots still rang overhead,
and the fire was now much more heavy and sustained than before.
Presently I again saw a movement in the jungle, and Norworthy's
face appeared, and he waved his arm in greeting.
"Five minutes more and a party were gathered at the foot of the
rock, and a strong rope was tied to the cloth. I pulled it up. A
rope ladder was attached to it, and the top rung was in a minute
or two in my hands. To it was tied a piece of paper with the words:
'Can you fasten the ladder?' I wrote on the paper: 'No; but I can
hold it for a light weight.'
"I put the paper with a stone in the end of the cloth, and lowered
it again. Then I sat down, tied the rope round my waist, got my
feet against two projections, and waited. There was a jerk, and
then I felt someone was coming up the rope ladder. The strain was
far less than I expected, but the native policeman who came up
first did not weigh half so much as an average Englishman. There
were now two of us to hold. The officer in command of the police
came up next, then Norworthy, then a dozen more police.
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