The crisis came quickly. The huge boulder, showering loose rock in all directions, loomed above the boys. Then as quickly as the danger had come, it was over. With the speed of an express train, the rock swept past them. By scant inches it missed Ken, setting up a breeze as it rushed by.
On rolled the big rock to crash hundreds of feet below in a tangle of twisted pines.
“Wow! That was close!” Ken exclaimed when he had recovered speech.
Jack, breathing hard, asked shakily, “What started that rock rolling down the mountain? An animal?”
“A two-legged one, I suspect,” rejoined Warner, his voice tight.
He adjusted his field glass to train it on the rocks high above them.
Lowering it after several minutes, he said: “No question about it. That rock was dislodged purposely.”
“By whom?” Jack demanded.
“I glimpsed the fellow only for an instant when I first saw the rock coming our way. Then he ducked back out of sight.”
“It wasn’t Walz?” Mr. Livingston asked.