As to help, there was no hope of
it, for the place was far away from all human dwellings; night would
soon fall and the bush would presently yield beneath her
feet--destruction was certain.
But while the lady neglected to call for assistance, the wedged-in horse
did so all the more loudly. Supine and unable to free himself from his
uncomfortable position, he repeatedly uttered that terrified scream
which one never hears from this noble and reticent beast except in dire
extremity. Whoever has heard such a cry will readily admit that it is
far more terrible than any merely human appeal for assistance.
After a few moments it seemed to Henrietta as if a halloo were
resounding from the depths below; looking down she perceived by the
light of the moon a black shape leaping from rock to rock like a
chamois, and gradually approaching the dangerous point where she hung.
Any efforts on this man's part seemed to her impossible. There was not a
single visible gap or crevice in the face of the steep rock by means of
which he could scramble up to her; and how could he help her, how could
he liberate her, if he did manage to get at her?
Nevertheless the man drew nearer and nearer. She could by this time make
out his goatskin cloak, his high broad cap, the clean shaved face
peculiar to the mountain goatherds. His dexterity was as astonishing as
the physical strength, with which he often raised himself on the tips of
his toes in order to reach a cleft in the rocks, scarcely visible high
above his head; often he could scarce hold on by the tips of his
fingers, yet the next moment he would swing himself up with half a hand
and, setting his foot in the cleft, look about for a fresh foothold.
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