Then he saw she was still safe on the sloping shelf . Carefully and painfully she drew herself to her knees and , dinging to the rope , crept up the rock hand over hand . When she came within his reach he grasped her arms and lifted her up into safety beside him . `` Thank God , '' he said , with whiter lips than her own . For a few moments Lynde sat silent on the sod , exhausted with fright and exertion , while her dog fawned on her in an ecstasy of joy . Finally she looked up into Alan 's anxious face and their eyes met . It was something more than the physical reaction that suddenly flushed the girl 's cheeks . She sprang lithely to her feet . `` Can you walk back home ? '' Alan asked . `` Oh , yes , I am all right now . It was very foolish of me to get into such a predicament . Father and Emily went down the lake in the yacht this afternoon and I started out for a ramble . When I came here I saw some junebells growing right out on the ledge and I crept out to gather them . I should have known better . It broke away under me and the more I tried to scramble back the faster it slid down , carrying me with it . I thought it would go right over the brink '' -- she gave a little involuntary shudder -- `` but just at the very edge it stopped . I knew I must lie very still or it would go right over . It seemed like days . Pat was with me and I told him to go for help , but I knew there was no one at home -- and I was horribly afraid , '' she concluded with another shiver .
`` I never was afraid XXXXX my life before -- at least not with that kind of fear . ''
For down in into over than to under while within