The health and buoyancy of the girl were in
the live eyes that met his eagerly.
"You weren't long," was all she said.
"I met them coming," he answered as he dropped the loop of the rope over
her head and arranged it under her shoulders.
He showed her how to relieve part of the strain of the rope on her flesh
by using her hands to lift.
"All ready?" Macdonald called from above.
"All ready," Elliot answered. To Sheba he said, "Hold tight."
The girl was swung from the ledge and rose jerkily in the air. She
laughed gayly down at her friend below.
"It's fun."
Gordon followed her a couple of minutes later. She was waiting to give
him a hand over the edge of the cliff.
"Miss O'Neill, this is Mr. Macdonald," he said, as soon as he had freed
himself from the rope. "You are fellow passengers on the Hannah."
Macdonald was looking at her straight and hard. "Your father's name--was
it Farrell O'Neill?" he asked bluntly.
"Yes."
"I knew him."
The girl's eyes lit. "I'm glad, Mr. Macdonald. That's one reason I
wanted to come to Alaska--to hear about my father's life here. Will you
tell me?"
"Sometime. We must be going now to catch the boat--after I've had a look
at the cliff this young man crawled across.
Pages:
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68