So, here goes." As he ceased speaking he drew a deep breath, and then feeling that safety depended upon his being firm, cool, and deliberate, he made his way from the mouth of the hole along the ledge upon which he stood, till he found a spot where he could ascend higher.
It was necessary that he should find such a spot, for the ledge had grown narrower and in another yard died completely away.

So, raising his hands to their full extent, he found a place for one foot, then for the other, repeated the experiment, and was just going to draw himself up to a ledge similar to that which he had just left, when one foot slipped from the stone upon which it rested, and had the lad lost his nerve he must have fallen headlong.
But he held on tightly, waited a minute to let the jarring sensation pass away, depending upon his hands and one foot.

Then calmly searching about he found firm foothold, raised himself, and the next moment he was on the green ledge.
"Wouldn't have done to tumble," he said with a hall laugh.

"Fall's one thing, a dive another.

I suppose the water's pretty deep down there." The ledge he was now on was fully a foot wide, and the refuse and fish bones with which it was strewn told plainly enough that in the spring time it was the resting--perhaps nesting--place of the sea-birds which swarmed along the coast.
As he stood facing the rock he found directly that he could not get any farther to his right, and a little search proved that from this ledge he could get no higher, not even had he been provided with a ladder.