“They saw then, that this huge rock was on the very summit of the mountain.” Page [163].
“Do they?” asked Nell, absently looking about her. Then she asked, with energy, “Johnny, do you know what I think we ought to do? We must climb this big mountain of a rock, some way, and see what there is on the other side of it. Maybe we are near home.”
“I guess not,” said Johnny; “but I can climb it if you can.”
After thinking the case over, they clasped hands once more, and began the ascent. They had to sit down several times, to rest, on the way. The sharp points of the rock and the narrow crevices which they mounted, hurt their tired feet.
At last they reached the top, and found themselves in comparative daylight, because they were now out of the woods. They saw then, that this huge rock was on the very summit of the mountain on which the picnic had taken place. They beheld from it, distinctly, their homes in the valley beneath. The rock was entirely free from foliage, and nothing obscured the splendor of the landscape below. The sun had just set red and misty in the west, shedding his parting glow over the peaceful village and the scattered farm-houses, on its outskirts.
No wonder the two children were overcome by fatigue,—they had been gradually, but unconsciously ascending the hill the whole afternoon.
They stood there now, hand in hand, looking down upon their far-off homes.
“Are you afraid, Nell?” asked her companion, in a low voice.
“No,” said Nell; “not now, that we are out of those dark woods; besides, I have thought of a plan to make them see us from below. Look here.”
She put her hand in her pocket and drew forth a match.