“I see him!” she cried. “He is just beyond the middle of those bushes.”
“I—I’m killed,” wailed the fat boy. “Get me out of this.”
“How long can you hold on?” demanded Elfreda.
“Until the bushes give way. Roots are loose now,” wailed Stacy. “You’ll have to hurry.”
“We can’t reach him with a rope from here,” answered Tom.
“Oh, Hippy, what can we do?” moaned Nora. “If he lets go he will be dashed to death.” Elfreda, who had been calmly surveying the scene, recommended that they all return to the point from which Stacy fell, and descend the slope on the other side.
“I think that, if we can get down on that side, we shall be near enough to be able to cast a rope to him,” she said.
The two men agreed with her, and, after telling Stacy what they proposed to do, all hands began clambering up the mountain again. Reaching their former position, it was seen that the route they had planned to follow to reach Stacy would be perilous. Tom said the girls must remain where they were while he and Hippy made the descent.
The Overlanders had two ropes, Grace’s lariat, and a small Manila rope that they always carried on their mountain climbs. These ropes Tom and Hippy took with them and began cautiously picking their way down the rocks on the right-hand side of the slope. It took them nearly an hour to reach a point opposite the boy.
“Part of me is. The rest is dangling. If you don’t hurry I’ll soon be a hamburger steak at the base of the mountain.”
“Hold up your hand so we may see where you are,” directed Tom.
Stacy thrust a cautious hand from the bushes, then as cautiously withdrew it, but the two Overlanders saw it.
“Listen, boy!” called Tom. “We are going to try to cast a rope to you, but do not make a quick move in grabbing it. Once you have the rope in your hands, pass it about your body under the arms and tie it securely; then, when we give the word, let go of your support. We will do the rest. Understand?”
Tom made a cast, but the rope fell far short of the mark. He made several other attempts, failing each time.
“Let me try it,” requested Lieutenant Wingate. Before casting. Hippy tied a small stone to the end of the rope, then swinging six feet or so of the rope in the air, he let go. The stone plunked into the bushes.