“If I go, one of you will have to stay with the pack animals,” the old man said. “I don’t think they had better try it,” he added with a laugh.
Bob and Joe looked puzzled.
“I don’t understand,” said the latter, hesitating. “Do you mean that some of us will slide down this slope and some stay with the mules—leave them here, I mean?”
“Oh, no,” smiled Dr. Rander. “One of us will have to take the mules down the trail. We could all go that way, but as it is very long, this offers a short cut that you fellows can take. That is, if you want to. When you get to the bottom you can wait until I get down the trail with the pack animals.”
“Where is the trail?” Bob secretly wondered if Dr. Rander had suddenly changed his mind about sharing the treasure with them and was using this means to evade them. He did not think the old man treacherous, but he wanted to be on the safe side.
“Over there.” Dr. Rander pointed to a narrow path that circled down the mountainside.
“Suppose,” Bob began, “you and Joe go down the slide while I take the mules down the trail. I don’t like the looks of that glassy slope.”
“All right. I’m no longer young, but I still like sport. Here I go.”