about getting her pack ready for starting. The other girls were
now doing the same, Janus passing on the packs after they had been made
ready. To have a pack come open while climbing a steep mountain would
mean the loss of almost everything in that pack. But the danger of
this was not so great now as though the luggage were being carried on
pack horses.

The start was made in a leisurely manner. Janus halted every little
while to point out some interesting feature of the landscape, or to
relate some legend of the past associated with this or that particular
bit of mountain scenery. An hour had been occupied in this easy
jogging before they came to the sheer climb that lay before them. This
latter was more than a thousand feet, but the guide proposed to take
the greater part of the day for it. There was no need for haste, as
the journey could be made easily before night.

As one gazed up the jagged side it did not seem possible that anything
other than a bird could make the ascent. It looked a sheer wall from
where the girls stood, the projections and jutting crags appearing
perfectly flat to them. Even Harriet Burrell and Miss Elting were a
little dubious.

"Do you think it safe?" questioned the guardian apprehensively.

"No. Mountain climbing is never safe," replied Janus. "It can be
done, and easily at that, if that's what you mean. Shall we go ahead
or go back, Miss?"

"Ahead, of course," the guardian nodded.

Janus got his line ready, a small but strong and pliant rope. He
nodded to his party, glanced up for the most favorable starting point,
then began to go up. The Meadow Brook Girls followed in single file.
Miss Elting bringing up the rear. Now the guide passed the rope to
them as the ascent became more precipitous. Up and up wound the trail.
The climbers kept a firm grip on the life line, for a misstep here
would mean a bad tumble, and might take others down also. At times the
girls were out of sight of each other, like the ends of a train
rounding a sharp curve. The advice of the guide to "look up, never
down," was followed by each one. In fact, none dared to look down,
fearing to lose her head and grow dizzy.

[Illustration: Up and up wound the trail.]

"We rest here," announced Janus, after they had been climbing for an
hour without once stopping during that time. It was not a particularly
desirable place in which to rest, being located on a steep slope, but
the spot was surroun