e thinking of settling, well, just
take a peep in at our valley before you settle, that's all. And fishing!
Say!--did you ever get a thirty-five-pound salmon on a six-ounce rod?
Some fight, bo', some fight!"

"I'm lighter than you by forty pounds," Carson said. "Let me go first."

They stood on the edge of the crevasse. It was enormous and ancient,
fully a hundred feet across, with sloping, age-eaten sides instead of
sharp-angled rims. At this one place it was bridged by a huge mass of
pressure-hardened snow that was itself half ice. Even the bottom of this
mass they could not see, much less the bottom of the crevasse. Crumbling
and melting, the bridge threatened imminent collapse. There were signs
where recent portions had broken away, and even as they studied it a
mass of half a ton dislodged and fell.

"Looks pretty bad," Carson admitted with an ominous head-shake. "And it
looks much worse than if I wasn't a millionaire."

"But we've got to tackle it," Smoke said. "We're almost across. We can't
go back. We can't camp here on the ice all night. And there's no other
way. Shorty and I explored for a mile up. It was in better shape,
though, when we crossed."

"It's one at a time, and me first." Carson took the part coil of rope
from Smoke's hand. "You'll have to cast off. I'll take the rope and the
pick. Gimme your hand so I can slip down easy."

Slowly and carefully he lowered himself the several feet to the bridge,
where he stood, making final adjustments for the perilous traverse. On
his back was his pack outfit. Around his neck, resting on his shoulders,
he coiled the rope, one end of which was still fast to his waist.

"I'd give a mighty good part of my millions right now for a
bridge-construction gang," he said, but his cheery, whimsical smile
belied the words. Also, he added, "It's all right; I'm a cat."

The pick, and the long stick he used as an alpenstock, he balanced
horizontally after the manner of a rope-walker. He thrust one foot
forward tentatively, drew it back, and steeled himself with a visible,
physical effort.

"I wish I was flat broke," he smiled up. "If ever I get out of being a
millionaire this time, I'll never be one again. It's too uncomfortable."

"It's all right," Smoke encouraged. "I've been over it before. Better
let me try it first."

"And you forty pounds to the worse," the little man flashed back.
"I'll be all right in a minute. I'm all right now." And this time the
nerving-