"I'm going to be the first at the top!" cried Joe, when they started again. "Come on, who will race me?"
Harry and Fred followed, but soon the stout youth fell behind. Then Joe came out at a bit of a clearing and mounted a big flat rock.
"Hurrah! I've won!" he cried, swinging his cap in the air. "What is the prize?"
"A ham sandwich," answered Link, who was carrying one of the lunch baskets. "Here you are," and he handed it out.
"Let us rest a bit before eating anything," said Frank. "A fellow can't eat when he is out of wind."
"Humph! I can eat any time," grumbled Fred. "Try me and see."
"If we had a spyglass we could see for a long distance from here," remarked Link, as he mounted the rock beside Joe. "What a fine view it is!"
"Unless I miss my guess a storm is coming up," announced Joe, with a keen look at the western sky. "It's getting black over there."
"Oh, don't scare us to death," put in Harry. "Maybe it will blow off in some other direction."
"No, it is heading directly this way. Don't you think so, Fred?"