“Yes, Cotting won’t mind for once if we don’t report on time.”
They rested there fully a half-hour. Then Kitty, who had taken command of the situation the instant he had shed his shoes to begin his climb to the rescue, gave permission to start homeward. By that time Tad seemed quite himself again, and the first thing he did was to walk around the Rock and follow with his eyes the course of his climb and of Kitty’s. It looked pretty high up from down there, and the wall of granite seemed even more perpendicular than it really was. Tad shook his head.
“I don’t see how I got as far as I did,” he said.
“Neither do I,” returned Kitty. “You got off the track after you left the fissure. Ought to have gone almost straight up. See that three-cornered rock sticking out at the left? That’s the way. Instead you went off across that face. Risky. Might have fallen. Next time——”
“Huh?” demanded Tad.
“Next time,” repeated Kitty, blinking.
“There isn’t going to be any next time,” replied Tad with emphasis. “I don’t believe I was cut out for a mountain climber.”
“Next time,” continued Kitty as though he had not heard, “pull yourself until you get your knee over that three cornered rock. After that the ledge slopes more and you can crawl up. Not very hard.”
Tad observed the rock in question thoughtfully, darted a look at Kitty and nodded. “All right. If I ever do try it again, Kitty, I’ll remember.”