"I shall remain here with Maybe Dixon," said Mark. "And I think the others ought to remain too. Those fellows may make a break for liberty when we least expect it."
"Mark is right," said Peckham. "They may be planning a break at this very minute."
"Let us arrange a signal," said Maybe Dixon. "If either party wants help, fire three shots in rapid succession."
So it was agreed; and a minute later the party to ascend the cliffs rode away, to where a narrow path led upward.
"Be careful here, boys," warned Andrew West, who was in the lead. "A tumble might hurt you a good deal."
The trail was by no means an easy one, and as they mounted higher and higher it seemed to grow more dangerous. A single slip of a horse's hoof and the rider would have been thrown down a distance of a hundred feet or more.
"This is the kind of traveling I don't like," remarked Si, as he looked down to the rocks below and shivered.
"Don't look down—keep your eyes on the trail," said Andrew West. "If you look down you may get dizzy and fall out of the saddle."
Near the top of the cliffs the way was worse than ever. The man passed in safety and then came Bob. Si's horse came to a halt.
"I can't make that!" cried the former farm lad, in dismay. "If the horse tries it we'll go over, sure!"