For fully five minutes the rope remained as when the teams had first dropped. Then, of a sudden, Dale gave a hiss and up came his men, to haul in on the rope several inches and then drop as before.
"Hurrah! that's the way to do it!"
"Every inch counts, boys!"
"Watch your chance for another!"
"Get it back, Pepper! Get it back!"
There followed another tense strain. Then Dale's team came up once more and brought rope in another six inches.
"That's the way to do it! Now then, a good, stiff pull and you'll have 'em over!"
"Wake up, Pepper! It's time you and your men got on the job!" cried Henry Lee.
"I knew Dale's team would win," said Paxton.
Hardly had Paxton spoken when Dale's team came up for another haul. But this time Pepper and his men were on the alert, and in a twinkling they commenced to haul in—six inches, a foot, a foot and a half and then two feet—and then they dropped, the strain being as much as they could stand.