doing
it, and so can we--if we'll put our grit into it."

"Now take it slow and be sure of one foot before you move the next,"
said Foster Portney, warning them again. "Dig as deeply into the ice and
snow as you can. And above all things, Randy and Earl, _don't look
back_!" And the uncle shook his fist to emphasize his words.

A breathing spell was taken, and then they started slowly for the base
of the cliff, where Captain Zoss got down on his knees to make sure that
they were on the right trail, if trail it could be called. He soon
announced that one party had gone up at one place and the others at a
spot about thirty feet to the left.

"I'll try my luck here," he said, and the doctor agreed to follow him.
There was no telling which trail was the better, and the Portneys took
the other, Mr. Portney going first, with Randy next and Earl last. The
uncle wished to make sure of the footing before he allowed the boys to
come after him.

The first hundred feet up were not as difficult as Randy and Earl had
imagined, but now every step had to be calculated, and when half way up
Foster Portney came to a halt.

"Here's a very steep place," he announced, without, however, looking
back. "Randy, when you reach it, catch hold of the spur of ice with your
left hand and put your foot just beneath it. Tell Earl to do the same."

"I will," answered Randy, but when the spot mentioned was reached poor
Randy's heart leaped into his throat. The sheer wall before him was
nearly as high as a house, and there was nothing to cling to but little
lumps of ice which stuck out here and there. The lumps might crack off,
and then--he did not dare to think further than that. He was strangely
tempted to look below him, but his uncle's words of warning rang in his
ears--"_Don't look back!_" and he did not.

One step was taken, and then another, and Randy felt as if he was
suspended in the air, with nothing above or beneath him. A brief vision
of himself lying mangled far below flashed across his mind, and he
wished himself safe back in the woods of Maine again. What was all the
gold in Alaska worth alongside of such an agonizing risk of life as
this?

But he must go on; he could not remain where he was forever. The next
step was even more difficult, and he held his breath as he took it. He
had been climbing up the cliff for less than quarter of an hour, yet he
felt a year older than when he had begun. Would the climb never come to
an end?