At last that portion of the rope which lay in the garden began to jerk and writhe vigorously.  She knew then that he was coming down, hand over hand, through that long, dangerous stretch of darkness.  Elsewhere in this narrative, it has been stated that the cliff reared itself sheer to the height of three hundred and fifty feet directly behind the chateau.  At the summit of this great wall, a shelving ledge projected over the hanging garden; a rope dangling from this ledge would fall into the garden not far from the edge nearest the cliff.  The summit of the cliff could be gained only by traversing the mountain slope from the other side; it was impossible to scale it from the floor of the valley which it bounded.  A wide table-land extended back from the ledge for several hundred yards and then broke into the sharp, steep incline to the summit of the mountain.  This table-land was covered by large, stout trees, thickly grown.

The rope was undoubtedly attached to the trunk of a sturdy tree at the brow of the cliff.

She could look no longer; it seemed hours since he started from the top.  Every heart-beat brought him nearer to safety, but would he hold out?  Any instant might bring him crashing to her feet—­dead, after all that he may have lived through during that awful night.

At last she heard his heavy panting, groaning almost; the creaking and straining of the rope, the scraping of his hands and body.  She opened her eyes and saw the bulky, swaying shadow not twenty feet above the garden.  Slowly it drew nearer the grass-covered floor—­foot by foot, straining, struggling, gasping in the final supreme effort—­and then, with a sudden rush, the black mass collapsed and the taut rope sprung loose, the end switching and leaping violently.

Genevra rushed frantically across the garden, half-fearful, half-joyous.  As she came up, the mass seemed to divide itself into two parts.  One sank limply to the ground, the other stood erect for a second and then dropped beside the prostrate, gasping figure.

Chase had come down the rope with another human being clinging to his body!

Genevra fell to her knees beside the man who had accomplished this miracle.  She gave but a passing glance at the other dark figure beside her.  All of her interest was in the writhing, gasping American.  She grasped his hands, warm and sticky with blood; she tried to lift his head from the ground, moaning with pity all the time, uttering words of encouragement in his ear.

Many minutes passed.  At last Chase gave over gasping and began to breathe regularly but heavily.  The strain had been tremendous; only superhuman strength and will had carried him through the ordeal.  He groaned with pain as the two beside him lifted him to a sitting posture.

“Tell Selim to come ahead,” he gasped, his bloody hand at his throat.  “We’re all right!”