by which we had come over the mountains was so steep that a horse could
only be led across it slowly and with difficulty, but in the other
direction the ground appeared to be more open, and to lead straight down
into a gently-sloping valley. Had I but my feet in yonder stirrups and
my sabre in my hand, a single bold dash might take me out of the power
of these vermin of the rocks.

I was still thinking it over and straining with my wrists and my ankles,
when their chief came out from his grotto, and after some talk with his
lieutenant, who lay groaning near the fire, they both nodded their heads
and looked across at me. He then said some few words to the band, who
clapped their hands and laughed uproariously. Things looked ominous, and
I was delighted to feel that my hands were so far free that I could
easily slip them through the cords if I wished. But with my ankles I
feared that I could do nothing, for when I strained it brought such pain
into my lance-wound that I had to gnaw my moustache to keep from crying
out. I could only lie still, half-free and half-bound, and see what turn
things were likely to take.

For a little I could not make out what they were after. One of the
rascals climbed up a well-grown fir-tree upon one side of the glade, and
tied a rope round the top of the trunk. He then fastened another rope in
the same fashion to a similar tree upon the other side. The two loose
ends were now dangling down, and I waited with some curiosity, and just
a little trepidation also, to see what they would do next. The whole
band pulled upon one of the ropes until they had bent the strong young
tree down into a semi-circle, and they then fastened it to a stump, so
as to hold it so. When they had bent the other tree down in a similar
fashion, the two summits were within a few feet of each other, though,
as you understand, they would each spring back into their original