"Dan! Dan!" I cried, with all the force I could muster. "Dan, are you alive?"
No answer was returned, although I continued to call. At the end of ten minutes Oliver came back, followed by the Kanaka, who had been told of the mishap.
"Werry nasty hole," said Naini. "One man, Nulo, lose his life dare last year."
"I want to get down on this rope," said Oliver. "You must hold it, for Mark is too weak."
"I will help as much as I can," I said. "But be careful, Oliver, or you may get a tumble too."
"I'll be on my guard."
"Bad stones down dare," put in the Kanaka. "Look out, or stones cut rope and down you go!"
We lowered Oliver over the side of the gully with care and let him down a few inches at a time. Soon he was out of our sight over a bulge of rocks. But as he did not call back we continued to let the rope down until we reached the end.
"No more rope!" shouted the native. "Sixty feet dare," he added, to me.
"I'm twenty or thirty feet from the bottom!" yelled back Oliver. " Tie something on, if you can."
"No more rope," said Naini to me, as he drew down his face soberly. "Tie blanket on, maybe."
