me from many a day's exploring. I was light on my feet and
uncommonly sound in wind, being by far the best long-
distance runner in Kirkcaple. If I could only keep my lead till
I reached a certain corner I knew of, I could outwit my enemy;
for it was possible from that place to make a detour behind a
waterfall and get into a secret path of ours among the bushes.
I flew up the steep screes, not daring to look round; but at the
top, where the rocks begin, I had a glimpse of my pursuer.
The man could run. Heavy in build though he was he was not
six yards behind me, and I could see the white of his eyes and
the red of his gums. I saw something else - a glint of white
metal in his hand. He still had his knife.

Fear sent me up the rocks like a seagull, and I scrambled
and leaped, making for the corner I knew of. Something told
me that the pursuit was slackening, and for a moment I halted
to look round. A second time a halt was nearly the end of me.
A great stone flew through the air, and took the cliff an inch
from my head, half-blinding me with splinters. And now I
began to get angry. I pulled myself into cover, skirted a rock
till I came to my corner, and looked back for the enemy. There
he was scrambling by the way I had come, and making a
prodigious clatter among the stones. I picked up a loose bit of
rock and hurled it with all my force in his direction. It broke
before it reached him, but a considerable lump, to my joy,
took him full in the face. Then my terrors revived. I slipped
behind the waterfall and was soon in the thicket, and toiling
towards the top.

I think this last bit was the worst in the race, for my strength