But Kaipi was not at the spot where we had left him. Whether his fears
had increased to such an extent that they had forced him to leave the
place, or whether he had come to the conclusion that we had returned to
the camp by some other route, we could not determine; so wasting no time
on useless conjecture we hurried toward the big maupei tree up which we
had climbed to reach the ledge.
But Holman's hurry proved disastrous. He had escaped the dangers of the
cliff descent to meet an accident when he had sufficient light to see
what he was about. In reaching for the limb of the tree that threshed
against the cliff, he lost his footing, and before I could grip him he
went crashing through the foliage to the ground, some fifty feet below!
I thought that I was an hour descending that tree, but I could not have
been more than three minutes if my skinned legs could be relied upon as
evidence of speed. I found Holman in a thorny tangle, and as I dragged
him into the open he groaned loudly and endeavoured to get upon his
feet.
"Are you hurt?" I questioned.
"No, no!" he cried.
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