ho were thus
caught were greatly alarmed. Second Lieutenant Burton was with Captain
Abbey, and he yelled out that the mountain was coming down. For several
minutes a score of cries and yells filled the air, but gradually these
died away, and when the landslide stopped, and the dust had rolled away,
the cavalrymen looked about them to see what damage had been done.

"Nobody hurt," announced Captain Abbey. "That was the most fortunate
landslide I ever saw."

"We'll have to go back," said Lieutenant Burton, who had surveyed the
disaster ahead. "We can't climb over that mass of rocks,--it wouldn't be
safe."

"I'd like to know how we are going back," put in one of the sergeants.
"We are blocked in the rear as well as in front. That stuff came from
the top of yonder ridge, and half of it slid down on this side of the
curve and half on the other. We are hemmed in."

This announcement made all feel very uneasy, and more than one
cavalryman turned slightly pale. If they couldn't advance or retreat
what were they to do?

"Let us make a careful investigation of our condition first," said
Captain Abbey, who was as calm as anybody in the detachment. "If we can
do nothing better, we can clear that rubbish off the trail."

At this Lieutenant Burton shook his head.

"That would be a dangerous undertaking, Captain. When rocks and sand
once begin to slide there is no telling when they will stop."

"But this stuff can only slide into the valley below, Burton."

"This stuff can, that's true; but it may bring down ten times as much on
our heads."

At this Captain Abbey shrugged his shoulders. "Well, we'll investigate
first and lay plans afterward. We can't stay here forever. In a couple
of hours more it will be dark."

A cry now arose from other portions of the trail, front and back, asking
if anybody had been hurt. The answer was reassuring: and then the
captain began looking over the ground, moving cautiously around on foot,
followed by the lieutenant and the sergeant. As the trail was so narrow,
the other cavalrymen remained where they were, continually on the watch
to see if more of the ridge above was liable to break away.

There was no doubt but that the platoon was in a "tight fix," to use
Lieutenant Burton's way of expressing it. The boulders in the pathway
were four and five feet in diameter, and several of them were wedged
together, all covered with sand and a sort of shell-rock. The blockade
in the front was as bad