Jack began to mount slowly into the air, using his knees to keep from being dashed against the cliff face as the rope oscillated.
It was a fearful trip. But the boy’s eyes shone with triumph as he slowly ascended.
He had only one fear. Would the tree trunk hold fast? If it did not—Jack did not dare to look downward as this thought came into his mind.
CHAPTER XXXV: THE TREASURE.
That was a dizzy and nerve-racking elevator. At the end of the rising rope Jack swung about like a pendulum. At last the edge of the summit was almost reached.
“Steady on,� called down Jack, “I’ll climb the rest of the way,� for he had noticed that it was not a hard scramble, from the point he had reached, to the top.
After a short struggle, he clambered and writhed himself to safety. Then he lay flat on his face for a moment on the flat top of the table mountain, regaining his breath and collecting his faculties.
After a while he rose. He looked over the brink and waved his cap to those below. The sound of a faint cheer was wafted up to him. Jack shouted back.
Then he turned his face upon the surface of the summit of Cedar Mountain. It was not perfectly flat as he had imagined from below. Rocky mounds covered it in every direction. Some struggling bushes and stunted trees also grew there.
From his point of vantage, Jack had an excellent view of the island and the sea for miles.