Her disappearance was a most mysterious thing. When Tom crept back from the brink of the precipice and stood on his feet again, they all stared at one another in growing wonder.
"What could have happened to her down there?" groaned Helen, her own amazement stifling her sobs.
CHAPTER XVI
HIDE AND SEEK
Ruth had fallen with but a single shriek. From top to bottom of the precipice had been such a swift descent that she could not cry out a second time. And the great bank of snow into which she had plunged did—as Ann suggested—smother her.
The shock of dropping fifty feet through the air, and landing without experiencing anything more dangerous than a greatly accelerated heart-action was enough, of itself, to make the girl of the Red Mill dumb for the moment.
She heard faintly the frightened cries of her companions, and she struggled to get to the surface of the great, soft heap of snow that had saved her from instant death.
Then she heard a voice pronounce her name, and a hand was thrust into the snow bank and seized her shoulder.
"Ruth Fielding! Miss Ruth! That come nigh to being your last jump, that did!"