* * * *
Neil’s mind was very active as he climbed down. On one level he was sharply aware of every possibility for grip and leverage among the cracks and crevices, and on another level he was detached from the immediate danger, weighing up the chances of the girl being alive and being in the cave.
When he had at last passed the nest level he was no longer attacked. His muscles ached as he stretched and clung, each foothold won with tremendous effort.
It had been easier when he was smaller. His present weight told against him and many crevices and notches he had used at ten were now too small for him. The girl was lighter than he was, but he still found it difficult to imagine her climbing down this cliff still weak as she must have been from the fever, and distraught from the harrowing
