Oh! how easy it seemed to do so--and thrust his fingers beneath the belt.

As he closed them round it, the rope parted and all the weight that it had borne came upon Godfrey's arm! How long did he support it, he often wondered afterwards.

For ages it seemed.

He felt as though his right arm was being torn from the socket, while the ice cut into the muscles of his left like active torture.

He filled himself with air, blowing out his lower part so that its muscles might enable him to get some extra hold of the rough ground; he dug his toes deep into the icy snow.