estone and the porphyry come in contact."

"Is that so?" cried Joe, beginning to get excited. "Then let us get down
there at once; for, ten to one, that's where our big tree came from."

"That's all very well," said I. "The row of stumps is our goal, all
right, but how are we going to get down there? I don't feel at all
inclined to trust myself on this loose shale. The pitch is so steep that
I should be afraid of its starting to slide and carrying us with it,
when I don't see anything to stop us from going down to the bottom and
over the precipice at the lower end."

"That's true," Joe assented. "No, it won't do to trust ourselves on this
treacherous shale; it's too dangerous. What we must do, Phil, is to get
across to that long spur of rocks over there and climb down that. It
will bring us close down to the line of stumps."

The spur to which Joe referred, connecting at its upper end with the
cliff at the foot of which we were then standing, reached downward like
a great claw to within a short distance of the chain of snow hummocks,
and undoubtedly our safest course would be to follow it to its lowest
extremity and begin our descent from there. It was near the further edge
of the slide, however, and to get over to it we had to take a course
close under the cliff, holding on to the rocks with our right hands as
we skirted along the upper edge of the shaly slope. It was rather slow
work, for we had to be careful, but at length we reached our
destination, when, turning once more to our left, we scrambled down the
spur to its lowest point.

"Now, Phil," cried Joe, "you stay where you are while I go down. No use
to take unnecessary risks by both going down together. You sit here, if
you don't mind, and wait for me; I won't be any longer than I can help."

"All right," said I; "but take the end of the rope in your hand, Joe.
No use for _you_ to take unnecessary risks, either."

[Illustration: "HE SHOT DOWNWARD LIKE AN ARROW"]

"That's a fact," replied my companion. "Yes, I'll take the rope."

With a shovel in one hand and the end of the rope in the other, Joe
started downward, but presently, having advanced as far as the rope
extended, he dropped it and went cautiously on, using the shovel-handle
as a staff. Down to this point he had had little difficulty, but a few
steps further on, reaching presumably the change of formation we had
expected to find, where the smooth, icy rock beneath the shale was
covered only by