The three hastened along the new trail, but they had not advanced more than a hundred yards when suddenly all three of them felt the ground sliding from beneath them.
They made a quick descent in the half-darkness of the canyon, sliding down the steep, gravelly sides of a deep hole.
“Now we are stuck!” cried Ned, as he landed on the bottom in a sitting position.
[CHAPTER XV]
YELLOW EYES
Quickly, Bob and Jerry had followed Ned down into the hole, sliding as he had done. For they had suddenly and unexpectedly reached the edge of the pit and, not knowing of its presence, they had simply stepped off into space. They slid down the slope of gravel, rather than taking an actual and precipitate tumble, and this saved them from broken bones, though it jarred them considerably.
Ned’s words, about being stuck, were not to be taken literally. He was able to arise after the first, stunning effect of the fall, and so were Jerry and Bob.
The first thing Bob did after getting to his feet was to make a dash up the slope down which he had slid. He could get only a few feet up the yielding surface, however, before slipping back to the harder bottom.
“You can’t get up that way!” remarked Jerry.