BEFORE making an attempt to climb out of the flinty “pocket” Harvey Hamilton studied his situation again, weakly hoping he could discover a more favorable spot for the essay upon which so much depended.  
“This must be more than a hole in the ground,” he decided, “for if it weren’t, it would be filled with water from the rains and melting snow.”
 
His supposition was right. It would be more proper to speak of the trap in which he was caught as an expansion of a gorge. On one side a fissure reached from the bottom to the top, with a similar opening opposite. Peeping through these in turn, Harvey noted that the channel beyond widened to several feet. Thus a torrent of water rushing through the ravine from the higher level, would find an outlet on the other side of the expansion and in a miniature way the wonderfully picturesque “Gorge of the Aare” would be reproduced.
 
“Ah, if either was a little wider!” mourned Harvey, after vainly trying to wedge his body through the narrow openings; “it would be fun to[169] follow the ravine to its outlet or to some spot where I could find a ladder up the side, but that can’t be.”
 
Thus far nothing in the nature of fear had disturbed the young aviator. Several hours of daylight remained and he was confident that by bestirring himself, or, if necessary, calling for help, he would be extricated from his vexatious situation. He came back to the place upon which he had fixed his hopes and girded himself for the effort.
 
“I could do it if it wasn’t for that bulge,” he said to himself, glancing aloft, “though the wall happens to be higher there than anywhere else.”
 
Grasping a rocky projection with one hand, he found a resting place for his feet and pulled himself upward for ten or a dozen inches. Looking over either shoulder he had a partial view of his groping shoes which after awhile found a resting place, and then he made another hitch. This was comparatively easy work, and if it would only last he could climb out as readily as if ascending the stairs at home. But nature delights in irregularity, and when she built the steps in the side of the gorge she did not consult the convenience of anyone.
 
As has been stated the inward thrust of the wall began at about half the height from the bottom. The slope was so slight that it might have been[170] overcome, had the projections occurred at the right intervals and had they been big enough to give a secure foot or handhold. With the utmost pains Harvey closed his fingers around the support, one in each hand and began groping with the toes of his shoes. He recalled the configuration over which he had passed, and succeeded in thrusting the front of his right shoe into a crevice, but was unable to find a rest for the other foot. Once the toe caught, but the instant he bore upon it the shoe slipped free and beat the air. The rattling fragments showed that he had struck a spot where the shale was too rotten to be depended upon.
 
At his waist a horizontal fissure had served for his hands. If he could lift his feet sufficiently to use it and gain another support above, it would be of vast help, but he must first secure an upper hold. Looking aloft he saw a ledge that he thought would answer.
 
“If it gives way or my hands slip I shall fall,” he concluded, after studying the task, “but it’s my only hope and here goes.”
 
He bent his knees slightly and leaped upward. His calculation was made so nicely that he caught the projecting ledge, and had nearly worked his shoes into the lower opening, when the shale in his grasp broke as if it were a decayed limb, and[171] unable to stay his descent, he dropped to the bottom of the gorge. The distance was not sufficient to harm him much, though he was considerably jarred.
 
“Confound it!” he exclaimed, chagrined and angered; “if I could have passed that spot I should have reached the top.”
 
He wondered whether it was worth while to try it again, but decided there was no reason to expect success. Even if he could climb beyond the place of his mishap, new obstacles would check him.
 
“As it was, I fell as far as I care to tumble; that is about all I’ve been doing,” he grimly added, “since that plaguy buck took a shy at me. If a fellow could only fall upward, there would be a chance for me.”
 
For the first time since his slip he asked himself how this affair was to end. He was sure he had nothing to fear as to the final outcome.
 
“Dick will wait where he is, if he gets on the track of Bunk; he will signal me to go to him, and when I don’t come, he will head this way. He knows the spot near enough to come within hail and the rest will be easy.”
 
Once more his thoughts reverted to Bunk. While the fellow might keep out of his reach, so long as he believed Harvey was trying to prevent[172] his trip with Professor Morgan, and while he undoubtedly would resent such interference, it would be far different when he learned that Harvey was in trouble. The dusky youth would abandon everything and rush to his rescue. None knew this better than Harvey Hamilton himself, and he wondered whether there was not some way of apprising Bunk of his dilemma.
 
“At any rate, it’s worth trying,” was the conclusion which he proceeded straightway to act upon.
 
Instead of whistling as he had done before, Harvey shouted the name of his friend and added in the loudest voice at his command the emphatic declaration that he was in a hole and wished Bunk to come and help him out. The appeal, if heard, was certain to bring results, but the truth forced itself upon the supplicant, that the voice of a person at the bottom of a well thirty feet or so in depth cannot be made to carry far. Bunk might be within two or three hundred yards and yet not hear him.
 
Harvey kept up his appeals until he grew hoarse, but without bringing the rescue for which he so ardently hoped. Help was beyond reach and he must depend upon other means to free himself from prison.
 
[173]If you can imagine his situation, you will understand how hard it was for him to stay idle. To fold one’s hands and wait for the assistance that is likely to be delayed for an indefinite time, is impossible for a lad in the vigor of health and strength. By this time he had formed the conviction that Bunk was nowhere near. It was the brother who had gone to the right spot to find him.
 
“From the way Bunk has acted all along he will fight shy of Dick; even if he doesn’t know what his errand is, he will try to avoid meeting him. Besides, my brother won’t know how to handle him, as I shou............