The signal which he made before reassured all, and drove the thought of danger from their minds.
The same order was repeated; Mr. Brainerd grasped the vine, and, helped both above and below, gradually surged upward until he, too, went over the edge of the ravine, as it may be called, and vanished.
Maggie started, when she again heard a curious movement above, as if made by a scuffle, and her heart throbbed with the suspicion that something was wrong.
"I tell you," she whispered, "there's trouble up there."
"No, there isn't," replied Aunt Peggy, "I suppose—there!"
The same sibilant call as before was repeated, and the elderly lady showed her faith in her own assertion by catching hold of the vine, and allowing herself to be pulled up as her predecessor had been.
Maggie and Eva were left with Habakkuk, who was plainly nervous, though it might be hard for him to explain why.
"Do you feel skeart?" he asked, in an undertone, as the rope of natural growth came dangling about their heads.
"Yes," said the elder sister; "didn't you notice a strange noise after Fred and father got up?"
"I don't know, but there is something queer; they don't seem to show themselves after they reach the top; it looks to me as if they tumbled over into some hole—ah!"