House That Berry Built by Dornford Yates Read Free Book Online Page B

name. A thousand square yards of downland commanded a prospect which made a man hold his breath. To the north, we could look down the valley, no longer a gorge, and could trace its glorious run to the gap through which we had driven, which led to the lowland plains. Cluny was round a bend, and just out of our sight. To the west, rose peak upon peak, in that superb disorder with which no order on earth can ever compare. To the south, where three gorges met, a miniature Jules lay land-locked, beside a glittering serpent of blue and white; and, beyond her, the Pic du Midi, queen of the range, lifted her lovely head to the westering sun.
    “I think,” said Jonah, “we can’t be far from a path of which I’ve heard. It runs from Lally to Jules, right over the tops of the hills. If I’m right—”
    “Hush,” said his sister, setting her head on one side. “I may be wrong, but I think I heard someone calling.”
    The three of us listened intently.
    After a long moment, a very faint “ À moi ” was borne to our ears.
    “Over there,” said Jill, pointing south-east…
    We hastened over the plateau, moving that way.
    After five minutes, we stopped to listen again.
    And heard nothing.
    “Call again,” I shouted, cupping my lips.
    “ À moi ,” came the answer, from well away to our right.
    The plateau rose sharply to the east, but to the south it ran level, until it came again to the trees. Here the ground ran up in a very steep ramp, and, as I scrambled ahead, I saw that I was approaching the top of some ridge. And then I perceived that it was not a ridge at all, but the edge of some cliff, for the trees stopped short at the top, and there was the Pic du Midi, fairly ablaze in the sunshine, clear to be seen.
    As I threw myself forward, the cry for help came very clear.
    “ À moi, à moi! ”
    And then I knew that the cry was coming from over and down the cliff.
    I called to Jill to keep back and to Jonah to have a care.
    Then I lay down on the ground and drew myself up to the brink.
    I have not a good head for heights, and when I saw what I saw, the palms of my hands grew wet and my senses reeled.
    I was lying on the edge of a cornice. Beneath me was a sheer drop of well over a thousand feet.
    On a ledge beneath the cornice, some twelve feet down, was standing a youth. The ledge was three inches wide. He was holding himself to the cliff by the brittle, protruding roots of one of the firs which was growing close to the brink. The ledge was too close to the cornice for him to hold himself straight: the projecting portion of cliff was thrusting his head and shoulders away from the wall. Seemingly miles below him, Jules looked smaller than ever; and the glittering serpent beside it, a thread, for some reason, of gold.
    The upturned eyes met mine, and the tongue spoke French.
    “My rope has broken. That was three hours ago. But I think that, if you will help, there will still be enough. The tree on your right.”
    I looked at the tree on my right.
    About its trunk was a fragment of climbing rope.
    Before I had this unfastened, Jonah was lying down and looking over the brink.
    I measured the fragment of rope.
    “Say thirteen feet,” I said: “and his shoulders are seven feet down. We should be able to do it, provided it holds.”
    Together, we examined the fragment, which was old, but seemed to be sound.
    My cousin made a slip-knot and drew the loop wide. Then we lay down again, and he lowered it over the edge.
    It was not very hard to drop the loop round the boy’s neck. The rope now lay upon his shoulders.
    “Get it under your arms,” said Jonah. “First one arm and then the other. When you have done that, I’m going to draw the rope tight.”
    “But—”
    “Do as I say, you young fool.”
    Red in the face, the other did as he said. The manoeuvre presented no danger, for one hand was quite enough to hold him to the face of the cliff.
    Then, very gently, my cousin drew the rope tight.
    Our end now reached the