most frantic because of these strange
carryings-on, and held him tight, so that he might not interfere with
the critical work of rescue.

And so Smithy was finally pulled over the edge. Once Thad managed to
secure a grip of the collar of his scout coat, he knew everything was
serene, for that khaki cloth was firm and sound, and capable of
bearing almost any strain.

The rescued scout sprawled on the shelf, panting hard. His face was
still ghastly white, for Smithy lacked greatly in fortitude, and
needed building up as much as the other tenderfoot, Bumpus, had,
before his adventures in the big timber, that had gone so far to raise
him in the estimation of his chums.

"Whew! that was a close shave!" exclaimed Giraffe, from the rear,
where he had been holding on the other mule with more or less
difficulty; because, when Molly discovered that her mate was in some
sort of panic, she also wanted to frisk around, and cut up, after the
way of mules in general.

Step Hen and Davy Jones were poking their heads over the edge, curious
to know just what Smithy had been saved from. The former turned, and
grinned.

"Guess you might have been bruised some, Smithy, if you'd gone on
down;" he remarked; "but there's a big shelf that was waiting to grab
you, just five feet under your toes. But as you didn't know that, and
thought the drop was half a mile, more or less, I don't blame you for
feeling shaky about it."

Smithy recovered sufficiently to insist on crawling to the edge, and
also peering over. When he really found that what Step Hen said was
the truth, it seemed to annoy him, strange to say.

"Now, isn't that provoking," he declared, in his precise way of
talking that he had learned from his maiden aunts; "why, if I had only
been aware of that circumstance, what an amount of mental suffering it
would have saved me. When a fellow gets such a fright as that, he
likes to know that it was worth while."

The journey was soon resumed; but Thad saw to it that some one else
besides Smithy held the leading rope of the tricky Mike. Perhaps the
mule might never afterwards try the same game; and then again he was
liable to break out in a new direction; for there was a little demon
in that wicked eye of his, Thad thought.

Already they were on the downward grade. By the time night arrived,
the guide hoped they would have reached the lower canyons, where a
camp might be made. All of the boys were really tired of climbing
about amon