It seemed as if the sea, furious at having lost Jim a short while ago, was making fierce efforts to get at them now. The great waves foamed against the cliff and the spray dashed over the boys, making the surface of the rock treacherous and slippery.
"I can't bear to look down," said Jo. "It makes me dizzy."
Finally they came to a place that stopped Jo entirely. Jim was able to get over it, because of his superior height and reach, and he attained a point of safety above Jo.
"What am I going to do now?" cried Jo. "I can't go any higher and it is impossible for me to go back."
"You wait," urged Jim, "till I get a secure foothold above here."
"Oh, I'll wait," said Jo grimly, "you don't observe any anxiety on my part to move, do you?"
Finally Jim reached a broad ledge, that gave him an excellent foothold, and he got his lariat ready and dangled the loop under Jo's nose.
"What are you going to hang me for?" inquired Jo.
"For a horse thief, I reckon," replied Jim, "that bay don't belong to you does it, Mister?"
"I certainly will hang you for that," retorted Jim, "Now get the loop under your armpits."
Then Jim, bracing himself, kept a taut line on his brother, and with this help he was able quite easily to get over the slippery, bare belt of rock, and in a few moments was safe with Jim on the ledge.
"It won't take us long now," said Jo, "to get to the other side."
"Let's give him a yell," suggested Jim, "to let him know that we are coming."
Then Jim put his hands to his lips and cried:
"Senor, ahoy." They listened breathlessly and in a few moments came a faint reply. This put renewed energy into the boys and as the way was now easier, they leaped ahead, agile as goats, and had soon reached the top of the cliff. They looked eagerly down.
There was the deep short semi-circle of the little bay with the waves heaving in against the cliffs and at the point midway between the two head-lands, where the beach was highest, they saw the Spaniard on Don Fernando. Already the encroaching waves were gnawing at them.
It was only a question of minutes now, and horse and rider would be carried out to sea. The Spaniard sat like a statute. It was seemingly possible for him to have made his escape up the cliffs, which were not overly precipitous, like those Jim and Jo had just scaled, but he was a fatalist and believed that his day had come. Perhaps he did not want to abandon his horse, in which his pride was centered.