"Good boy! Fine boy! Dad's Canyon is proud of you, boy!"
Tad sank down, shaking his head, breathing hard, as the guide could see, even at that distance. After a time Tad recovered his wind sufficiently to be able to talk.
"What happened to you?" called Dad.
"I got a bump. I don't really know what did occur. The ropes are all washed away, Dad. I don't know how I'm going to help you up here now that I have got up. Aren't there any vines of which I could make a ladder?"
"Nary a vine that'll make a seventy-five-foot ladder."
"Then there is only one thing for me to do."
"What's that?"
"Hurry to the rim and get ropes."
"I reckon you'll have to do that, kid, if you think you're able. Are you much knocked out?"
"I'm all right. Tell them not to worry. I may be gone some time, but
I shall be back."