So the three boys went forth, carrying their guns along, of course; and in addition Donald made sure of a couple of ropes, which he judged would be plenty long enough to reach from the top of the cliff down to that ledge the wizard had used.
[CHAPTER XXVIII.—AT THE END OF THE ROPE.]
“Careful, everybody; we must be near the edge of the drop right now!”
When Donald said this in a low but thrilling tone, Billie drew himself up into as small a space as possible, and strained his eyes in the endeavor to discover for himself any danger that might threaten them.
He chanced to know what it meant to feel himself
plunging downward through space, and was in no hurry to repeat the experience.
“There’s the crooked tree you marked down, Donald,” whispered Adrian; “right off there to the right.”
“So it is,” came the pleased response; “and that means we are just a little to the left of where I calculated to strike. Slowly now, all; and in three shakes of a lamb’s tail we ought to be there.”
Crawling carefully along the rough surface of the mountain in the direction of the crooked cedar that grew close to the edge of the steep precipice, which had appeared to their eyes when seen from below as a cliff, they presently reached their destination.
“That part’s done, anyhow,” the others heard Billie say to himself, with a certain air of relief that told how strained his nerves must be, what with all the excitement through which he had lately been compelled to pass.