“I wonder whether any fellow ever had a stranger escape,” reflected Harvey, when he realized that he had nothing more to dread from the brute; “he would have had me sure but for that tumble.”
The fear that the buck might be waiting in the vicinity held Harvey listening for some minutes. He was disturbed by the thought that his foe might find a path into the gorge and still have it out with him, but nothing of the kind occurred.
When finally he felt it safe to move about, he set out to learn his real situation, and the result was disquieting. His first thought was that the gap through which he had been precipitated was a ravine out of which he could climb with little difficulty; but to his dismay he found that it was a pocket or hole, which might be compared to an immense irregular well, twenty or thirty feet in diameter, with a depth nearly as great. The inclosing walls were of rock not only perpendicular but in several places the top narrowed, thus leaving the bottom broader than above. Only in one spot did the bushes grow to the edge, and that was where he had fallen, bringing so much undergrowth with him that he was not harmed.
Having made an inspection of his rocky prison, the all-important question presented itself: How was he to get out of it?
His hope was that by grasping the projecting bits of stone, he could climb to the upper edge, but the more he studied the problem the harder it seemed. There was one place where he finally decided to make the attempt. He believed he could raise himself to the top, but for the fact that about half way thither, the wall protruded in a way to suggest in a modified form the feat of treading a ceiling after the manner of a fly.
This slope, however, was so moderate and so short that he believed he might succeed. He was not encumbered with luggage and his outer coat had been left by the lakeside with the canoe and the fish which he and his brother had counted upon to furnish them their evening meal. The field glass being suspended by a cord behind his shoulders was no handicap; arms and legs were free to do their best, and few youths of his age were more capable athletes than he. The longer he studied the situation, the higher his hopes rose.
CHAPTER XV.
A DISMAL NIGHT.
BEFORE making an attempt to climb out of the flinty “pocket” Harvey Hamilton studied his situation again, weakly hoping he could discover a more favorable spot for the essay upon which so much depended.