"Yes, your friends need you," answered Ned sarcastically. "If they hadn't I never should have pulled you out of the hole in the crater."
"I was just wondering how Chunky could resist the temptation of falling in here. He'll never have a better opportunity for making a clean job of said Walter.
"He has explained why," replied Tad. "We need him. Of course we do.
We need him every hour——-"
"And a half," added Ned.
The roar of the river became louder as they descended. Now they were obliged to raise their voices to make themselves heard. The Professor was toiling and sweating, but making no complaint of the hardships. He was plucky, as game as any of those hardy boys for whom he was the companion, and they knew it.
"Hold on here!" cried Stacy, halting.
All turned to see what was wrong.
"I want to know—-I want to know before I take another step."
"Well, what do you want to know?" demanded Tad.
"If it's all this trouble to climb down, I want to know how in the name of Bright Angel Trail we're ever going to be able to climb up again!"