The ascent up the wooded incline was quickly made and in twenty minutes they were standing on the ledge over the Mummy. Here they stopped a short while and rested. They looked eagerly along the government road for travelers, but saw none. Then they started upward again.
After passing through a second belt of timber, the boys found it necessary to follow a winding course, along ledges, around steep places, then up a slope less steep, but rocky. From a distance this ascent appeared much steeper than it proved to be in the climbing, and at no time did the boys feel they were in danger of falling.
At last they reached the top. The journey upward had seemed much longer than it really was, for they had had no breakfast. Of course they were very hungry, but fortunately they had found a clear spring on the way up and quenched their thirst with deep satisfaction.
Ordinarily their interest in this newly discovered country—for the top of the mountain seemed almost extensive enough to be termed a country—would have been eager, but under the present circumstances a vastly more important question occupied their minds. They had come up in order to get down, and they now directed their attention to devising a plan.
Immediately they began an exploration of the mountain top in the hope of finding a way to get down. This flat-top area was fairly regular in circumference and half a mile in diameter. On reaching the highest point of their climb, they rested for half an hour and then started to walk around the edge.
Their view of the mesa through field-glasses from Porcupine Hill a few weeks before proved to have afforded them a fairly accurate idea of the top of Flathead. The eastern half was covered with a growth of spruce, the western half was rather hilly and craggy, and in the center was a pool of water, occupying a hollow that seemed to be the catch-basin of the whole expanse.
The exploration of the plateau was begun at a southeastern point and the boys decided to take a course northward along the eastern edge. This took them through the wooded section. After they had proceeded a quarter of a mile or more they found themselves on a great ledge within a stone’s throw, it seemed, of the government road.
Eagerly they scanned the highway for passing teams, and they were not disappointed. Two were approaching from the south and one from the north, the latter just entering the cañon through the northern pass. Hal picked up a stone half as big as his fist and hurled it out toward the road.
The result was disheartening. He had miscalculated the distance. The stone fell into the river, fifty yards short of the highway.
“My goodness!” Hal exclaimed. “We can’t attract anybody’s attention that way.”