e it was Tom?"

At this question the old miner shrugged his shoulders.

"Ain't no tellin', Sam. Let us hope not, fer if he went down the
mountain side----"

"He'd be killed!" finished Dick, and shuddered.

They listened and called out. But no answer came back, and they heard
nothing more but the humming of the wind through the trees, for it had
begun to blow stronger than before.

"Let's go a little further than this trail," suggested Jack Wumble.
"It looks to be better walking yonder."

"But we don't want to lose our way," returned Sam, rather impatiently.
The strange happenings of the day were getting on his nerves.

"We can come back here, if we need to," was the old miner's reply.

The Rovers followed him through some brushwood and then up a rough
incline. Here the bushes growing between the rocks aided them,
although they had to put on gloves, to keep from getting their hands
badly scratched, for some of the growth was thorny.

"Well, here we are at last!" cried Sam, when the upper level of the
trail was gained. He was almost out of breath, for the climb had been
a long and hard one.

They were now in the midst of a field, with the snow coming down
thickly all around them. Wumble led the way, looking for the spot
above the fallen tree. To one side was the mountain top, to the other
the valley, but all cut off from their view by the falling flakes of
snow. It was so dark that they could scarcely distinguish the trail,
even though Wumble was sure they were on it.

"Why not light a torch?" suggested Dick.

"That will help us, and may make the others see us--if they are near
by."

This was considered a good suggestion, and the old miner picked out an
extra dry bush that was long and slender. The top ignited readily, and
he quickly swung it into a blaze. Then they went on once more, holding
the torch at arm's length.

It was well that the light had been made, as they speedily found out.
Scarcely had they gone a hundred yards further when they reached a
split in the mountain side.

"Stop!" yelled the old miner, and came to a halt at the very brink of a
crevice ten or twelve feet wide and of unknown depth.

"There's a tree bridge!" said Dick, as the torch was swung around to
light up the vicinity.

He pointed to where a slender tree had been cut down and allowed to
fall across the chasm. It made a fairly good bridge, although they had
to cross with care and only one at a time. Their traps