hand.

"That," said the guide, "is where we camp to-night,"

"Thave me!" wailed Tommy.

"Keep going. We _must_ reach the Sokoki Leap before dark," urged
Janus. And far up there on the mountainside the Meadow-Brook Girls
fixed their gaze on the bit of rock that was to be their sleeping
place, and where they were to spend a night more full of interest than
they dreamed.

CHAPTER X

A SLIPPERY CLIMB

For a few moments after the guide's ultimatum they plodded patiently
along. No one noticed that the sky was cloudy until a shower of cold
raindrops smote them in the face. Tommy and Margery cried out in alarm.

"Climb!" shouted the guide. "You've got to keep going. It isn't going
to rain much. Just that one little cloud overhead."

But the cloud, though small, held a deluge of water which was poured
directly down into the faces and over the heads of the Meadow-Brook
Girls, drenching them. Furthermore, the water made the rocks so
slippery that it became difficult for one to take a safe hold with
either hands or feet. Progress became more slow, the ascent more
difficult.

Janus proved himself a master in the art of climbing. The girls met
with only one really dangerous situation during that afternoon's climb.
That was when they came to a place where there were steep slabs of
granite with no hand-holds. Over them the girls were obliged to pass
with scarcely a foothold, what there were of these being almost too far
apart for them to reach. The life line here came into use for the
first time. The guide crawled over the rocks, taking one end of the
line with him; then the girls, one by one, crept after him, clinging to
the line, every step being made with extreme caution, for a slip would
have meant a drop of about thirty feet and a landing on sharp, jagged
rocks. It would not have been a long fall, but the landing was another
matter.

Then, at the end, there was another difficulty. Here they had to work
their way around a corner. Only one could move at a time, the others
holding on tightly until she had reached a place where she, in turn,
could brace herself while the next one moved up; and so on until all
had passed the bulging rock that had seemed to bar their passage
absolutely.

"Fine!" approved the guide. "You did it like veteran climbers."

"Where ith the camp?" wailed Tommy. "I can't go another thtep. I'm
finithed."

"Rest a few moments," directed the guide.

"The shower is ended