“I believe you are insinuating, Malcolm Warne! Your words and manner are alike insulting. I challenge you to mortal combat, up here above the clouds.” Rob picked up Jelly’s two precious eggs, “Behold the weapons! Eggs _au naturel_, at a distance of forty paces!” “Here, you put those down, Rob!” shrieked Jelly in alarm. “I shall be glad to put them down when they’re cooked, Mr. Jell.” “Please don’t break them,” begged Jelly. “Malcolm, make him let my eggs alone.” “That’s right, Rob. If you must play with those do it over the frying-pan so they won’t be wasted. Let’s go down and get the wood, Evan. How about it――rested enough?” “Yes, I’m ready.” “Just to show you that you have misjudged me sadly,” said Rob, “I will go along and help. You start the fire, Jelly, and keep it going until we get back with more supplies.” CHAPTER IX DINNER IS SERVED Malcolm pointed out the “stove,” a hollow between three big ragged boulders, already blackened by former fires, and Jelly set to work to pile the fuel there. The others climbed cautiously down the ledge and stumbled and scrambled their way to the tree line. Once there, fuel was plentiful, but it was no easy task to make the ascent again with one’s arms piled with splintered branches. They made two trips, however, and assembled a fine big pile of wood on the surface of the ledge. After that they laid themselves down flat on their backs and puffed and panted like three steam-engines. The fire was crackling and Jelly was feeding it assiduously. The sparks, driven by the wind, went flying over the edge of the ledge in a shower of orange and red. “Have a look at this, will you, Malcolm,” called Jelly. “I guess I’ve got enough coals for you now.” Malcolm pronounced the fire about ready for operations, and gave his attention to the provisions. There was steak in two big slices, plenty of potatoes for roasting, buttered rolls and a full dozen and a half of doughnuts. There was ground coffee and an egg for clearing it, and salt and pepper, sugar and condensed milk. The utensils included coffee-pot, frying-pan, tin plates and cups, forks, knives and spoons. Rob viewed the display approvingly. “Looks good to me,” he said. “But your frying-pan isn’t big enough, Mal.” “Well, I didn’t want to bother with a very large one. This will do all right. We can cook one slice at a time. Where’s the coffee-pot? Throw it over, will you? I’ll start the coffee first, I guess. I’ll――” Malcolm stopped suddenly while an expression of utter dismay came into his face. “What’s the trouble?” asked Evan. Malcolm settled back on the ground and stared blankly at the coffee-pot. “I――we――” “Out with it. What did we forget to bring along?” “We forgot to bring any water,” murmured Malcolm. “By Jove!” said Evan. “What do you think of that?” muttered Rob disgustedly. The three looked at each other blankly. Finally, “How far is it to the spring?” asked Evan. “It’s almost half-way down the hill,” answered Malcolm.