listened with interest.
The story was finished, and they were congratulating themselves that
the end of the day's tramp was close at hand, when Randy suddenly looked
around in alarm.

"Where is Earl?" he asked.

"Earl!" exclaimed Mr. Portney. "Why, he is ahead, isn't he?"

"No, he dropped behind, to fix his boot," was the quick reply. "Earl!
Earl!"

The cry was repeated, and the others also took it up. Then they waited
for an answer, but none came. Earl had disappeared. They waited for five
minutes for him to make his reappearance, but he did not come; and then
they started on a search for him.

CHAPTER XII.

EARL HAS AN ADVENTURE.

As Randy had explained, Earl had stopped on the trail to fix his boot.
In crossing the mountain stream he had shipped a lot of water, and he
sat down on a rock and held up his foot, to allow the water to run out
on the ground.

Unfortunately for the youth he had rested on a rock which was by no
means secure on the bank of the stream, and now, as he leaned to one
side, the rock slipped from its resting-place, and down went poor Earl
into the water head first. As luck would have it, he struck in some
loose sand, otherwise he would have been seriously injured. Even as it
was he was stunned for the moment, and before he could turn he had
gulped down a great deal of water. He was nearly blinded by some fine
sand getting into his eyes and began to flounder around as though in the
midst of an ocean instead of a watercourse less than fifty feet wide and
five feet deep.

It took several minutes for him to save himself by reaching a large rock
in the centre of the stream. Collecting his scattered senses, he
cleared his eyes as best he could and took a view of his situation.

The rock was six feet in diameter and two feet above the top of the
water. On either side flowed the stream at a rate which he knew would be
quite sufficient to take him off his feet should he attempt to ford to
shore. What was to be done in this emergency he did not at first know.
The others had gone on ahead, and although he called to them, no one
heard his cry.

Had he had his gun he would have fired it, had the weapon been in
condition. But less than quarter of an hour before he had passed the
fowling-piece over to Captain Zoss, the captain having asked to inspect
it. He must help himself, or go without assistance.

Standing on the rock, he saw that escape to either side was out of the
question, and e