He stood, all his courage gone, tottering on the narrow top of the wall, afraid to stoop, lest his knees should fail him altogether and his feet slip from beneath him.

To bend down until his hands could rest upon the ice, and meanwhile to keep his feet--no, he could not do it.

He stood trembling, his face distorted with fear, and his body swaying a little from side to side.

Garratt Skinner called sharply to Pierre Delouvain.
"Quick, Pierre." There was no time for Garratt Skinner to return; but he gathered himself together on the ridge, ready for a spring.

Had Walter Hine toppled over, and swung down the length of the rope, as at any moment he might have done, Garratt Skinner was prepared.