Dick crept on.
He was beginning to feel a strange sense of impending evil. He feared that something terrible had happened to Roger, and the possibility of losing the chum whom he loved so well was enough to frighten him.
A minute later he came upon the gun. It had been carefully laid aside, he could see, which, at least, was evidence that up to then Roger had not found himself in any difficulty.
Looking beyond, Dick shuddered, for he had glimpsed what appeared to be a terrible gulf, at the end of the slope down which Roger must have made his way. If he had in some manner lost his footing, and taken that plunge, there was almost a certainty that it was all over with him.
When Dick discovered from the signs that some one had been scrambling wildly over that smooth rock his heart misgave him; and it was with a great fear that he carefully pressed on until he reached the brink of the chasm.
CHAPTER XXIV
ON THE BURNING DESERT
No sooner had Dick gained this point than he gave a whoop. It was a sound that Roger would recognize if he were living, and capable of giving back any sort of reply.
Dick’s heart seemed to cease beating for the moment, such was the agony of suspense that gripped his whole being. Then, when he caught a return whoop, he knew his chum was at least alive.