Aces and Knaves

to break off or whether the rope was going to slide off it. Neither happened. My arms were stronger than my legs right now and I could hold my weight.
    But I had to get my legs back on the ledge. My feet frantically searched for it. They found it at last. With difficulty I stabilized myself. I was breathing very fast and my heart sounded like a kettledrum in my ears.
    I still had to pass the whole length of the rope over the rock until the section between where I was tied to it and the top of the rock was tight. Slowly, I began pulling down on the other end of the rope, uncoiling it from my shoulder at the same time and allowing the uncoiled section to pass over the rock and then snake down the cliff.
    This was the opposite of what I had done before and, in some respects, more difficult because the loop I was uncoiling might be caught in the other coils. My legs were giving out. I stopped and rested on my arms, holding onto the rope on either side of the rock.
    Back to work. Pull the rope down slowly. Uncoil it from my shoulder a coil at a time. The next coil was snagged in the other coils. Don't tug it. Work on it carefully with one hand. It was hard on my fingers. The coil came loose and I started pulling the rope down the other side of the rock again. Slowly. Slowly.
    Three more coils to go. Two. One. The rope was uncoiled and taut from me up to the rock. I could support my weight by holding onto the rope from the other side of the rock. By letting it out I could lower myself down the face of the cliff. Like a pulley system.
    I held the rope with both hands and starting letting it move up a little at a time. The rope passed over the rock and down the other side, lowering me in the process. The system was working. I just had to have a little more patience.
    Don't go too fast. Don't risk losing control of the rope. Keep a tight grip with one hand while the other hand changes position on the rope. My hands hurt as the skin was rubbed off them. Ignore the pain. Hand over hand. Walk down the cliff face backwards.
    I found the courage to look down and saw that the ground was much closer. Almost there. Then I saw the other end of the rope coming up as my end went down. I was going to run out of rope before I reached the ground. The total length of the rope was less than twice the distance from the ground to the rock.
    In a few seconds it happened. I was out of rope and I still had 20 feet more to go to reach the ground. Only 20 feet. It seemed like a mile. But maybe I could climb down. I found a foothold and stood, still holding the rope.
    I looked directly beneath me. The cliff wasn’t as steep here. There were holds, if I could reach them. If I was careful. To climb down I had to let go of the rope. It was my security blanket and I didn't want to lose it. I stood for a full minute, undecided about what to do.
    I had no choice. My legs were beginning to shake again. I released the rope and plastered my body against the cliff. But I had to move. I quickly untied the other end of the rope from around my waist so that I wouldn’t rely on it to hold my weight, without thinking. Cautiously, I lowered one hand and found a hold. Then I moved a leg. I worked it down the rock, supporting myself on my other leg, which was bent double at the knee.
    Just a little farther. My support leg gave out. For a few seconds I held myself with my hands, scrambling with my legs to find holds. My handholds weren't good enough. I started sliding.
    I turned my body and ran down the cliff, out of control. I launched off a small ledge and was airborne for the last eight or nine feet. My stomach muscles contracted in a spasm of fear as I tried to land in a spot relatively free of rocks. My feet hit and then my knees hit hard. A shockwave went through my body and I couldn't breathe.
    I rolled onto my back and struggled to get some air into my lungs. Was I dying? I put my hands on my chest and tried to pump it in some sort of artificial respiration but I couldn't get any leverage.
    I can't account for the next few minutes, but I must have started breathing again because gradually I became aware of my surroundings. I lay on my back in a sea of pain.
    I tried to move and the pain became excruciating. I lay still for a while, hoping that everything would be all right. Finally, I realized that I had to help myself. I made small movements to find out where the pain was coming from and discovered that it was in my back. Since my back hadn't hit anything I