Tom called attention to two birds circling over them, which he said were jays looking for crumbs, whereupon the girls broke up pieces of hard tack and sprinkled them over the ground a few yards from the camp. The jays swooped down on the crumbs, chattering and scolding. Grace then suggested that, having reached the “top of the world,” they resume their journey and explore the lower ridges, taking the whole day for their return to camp. The first quarter of a mile down was a slide rather than a walk, but the Overlanders made merry over their frequent mishaps, finally reaching a long granite slope on the south side of the mountain where there was little snow. There, the sun’s rays blazed down all day long, and there many sparkling streams had their origin.
About them the ground was strewn with boulders from the size of a man’s head up to great spheres of flint-like stone, many as round and glistening as though they had been turned and polished by man.
“Oh, look at the beautiful lake!” cried Nora enthusiastically, pointing to a body of water in the valley far below them. “What is it?”
“It doesn’t appear on my map. I don’t know what it is,” answered Tom.
“Perhaps it is the Aerial Lake that we have been warned against,” suggested Grace.
“I was thinking of that myself,” nodded Tom. “There are trees growing in the lake, but what are those glistening objects farther out?”
“Rocks,” replied Grace, after focusing her binoculars on the shining marks.
“I wonder if I can hit one of them,” said Stacy, picking up a round stone which he sent rolling down the smooth granite slope. The stone shot over a broad, shelving rock, leaped far out into the air, then, after what seemed an interminable time, splashed into the lake. The Overlanders saw a tiny spurt of water as the stone struck the surface of the lake.
“Folks, I’ve got an idea. Greatest thing you ever heard of, too,” cried Hippy.
“Throw it over the cliff,” suggested Emma. “The very best possible use to which you can put your ideas.”