It might break.

I will cut you a better one," and he swung the axe against a tall sapling.
Iris mentally described him as "funny." She followed him in the upward curve of the ascent, for the grade was not difficult and the ground smooth enough, the storms of years having pulverized the rock and driven sand into its clefts.

The persistent inroads of the trees had done the rest.

Beyond the flight of birds and the scampering of some tiny monkeys overhead, they did not disturb a living creature.
The crest of the hill was tree-covered, and they could see nothing beyond their immediate locality until the sailor found a point higher than the rest, where a rugged collection of hard basalt and the uprooting of some poon trees provided an open space elevated above the ridge.
For a short distance the foothold was precarious.

Jenks helped the girl in this part of the climb.