"All that I can recollect is that Robert Grant was still by my side,
holding fast by a tuft of lichen, less than two minutes before the shock
which finished our descent."

"Less than two minutes? Mind what you are saying;
I dare say a minute seemed a very long time to you.
Are you sure you are not making a mistake?"

"I don't think I am. No; it was just about two minutes,
as I tell you."

"Very well, then; and was Robert on your right or left?"

"On my left. I remember that his poncho brushed past my face."

"And with regard to us, how were you placed?"

"On the left also."

"Then Robert must have disappeared on this side," said the Major,
turning toward the mountain and pointing toward the right:
"and I should judge," he added, "considering the time that
has elapsed, that the spot where he fell is about two miles up.
Between that height and the ground is where we must search,
dividing the different zones among us, and it is there we
shall find him."

Not another word was spoken. The six men commenced their explorations,
keeping constantly to the line they had made in their descent,
examining closely every fissure, and going into the very depths