“Can you hold on, Tad? Kitty is coming up!”
Very slowly Tad turned his face over his shoulder, but made no attempt to look down at them.
[Illustration: “Very slowly Tad turned his face over his shoulder”]
“Guess I’ve got to!” he called rather faintly. “Tell Kitty to hurry up!”
“He’s almost to you now,” shouted Rodney encouragingly. Then he moved around and hailed Kitty. “He’s all right so far, but he wants you to hurry, Kitty!” There was no response from Kitty, but the latter went on steadily, his stockinged feet finding incredible footholds, and his hands seeming to glue themselves to the sheer surface of the granite. A jutting elbow of rock still hid Tad from his sight as, reaching the shallow fissure, he used knees as well as feet and found himself presently but a scant four yards from the summit. Then it was plain to be seen why Tad had come to grief. After emerging from the fissure, instead of keeping straight up he had worked to the left, taking advantage of a crack into which he could thrust his toes, evidently in the expectation of reaching a projecting point of rock some twelve feet beyond. Had he gained the boulder he could easily have pulled himself to the top and so gained the final summit. But, unfortunately, the crack had narrowed speedily and at last, having set his right foot on the last foothold, he could go no further. Nor, since his grip of the rock above him was none too secure, did he dare remove the weight of his body from that right foot to work back the way he had come. All this Kitty saw, as, panting with the rapidity of his ascent, he paused at the top of the fissure. Tad was about level with him, but separated by some eight feet of rock.
“Keep your head,” he said shortly. “Be there in a minute.”
“Hello, Kitty!” Tad tried to speak lightly, but the strain of sticking there like a limpet to the almost straight up and down face of the ledge was beginning to tell, and his voice shook a little. “I’m in a fix,” he added. “Can’t get one way or t’other. See any place I can stick this left foot, old man?”
“No. Stay where you are a minute. Can you hold on?”
“Got to, haven’t I?” responded Tad grimly. “If you can do anything, Kitty, do it quick, though. My fingers are numb, and this right foot of mine is about all in.”