"I'm clinging to a tree," came up Tubby's voice. "I grabbed it as I was falling. It's only a very little tree, though, and I don't just know how long it'll bear me." "Get in as close to the roots of it as you can," breathed Rob, hardly daring to speak above a whisper for fear of dislodging his chum by the mere vibration of his voice. "All right," said Tubby, and Rob could hear him cautiously making his way along his slender aerial perch. Rob turned his face upward and hailed his corporal. "Say, Merritt," he cried, "take the fellows, and get back to camp as quick as your legs will carry you, and then get back up here again. Bring ponies and ropes with you--all you can get of them, and maybe Blinky and some of the men had better come." "All right, Rob. But how about you?" "I'll wait here. Hurry back, now." "We will," and an instant later Rob was alone, and his companions were making full speed to the camp. "How are you making out, Tubby?" called down Rob in a low tone. "All right. But my legs are cramped. Gee! I was lucky to strike this tree." "You bet you were. I noticed a few small ones clinging to the rocks as we peeped over, but I didn't think they'd ever be the means of saving a life." "Don't holler till we're out of the wood. It's bad luck." "Well, they ought to be back within an hour with the ropes. I guess they can get ponies up that trail." "I hope so," groaned Tubby. "I don't think I can hold out much longer." "Good gracious!" gasped Rob, "is the tree beginning to give?" "No, without grub, I mean. I tried to eat some of the leaves off this tree, but they're bitter and don't taste just right." "What! You've been moving about?" "Sure. I've got to have something to do." The very idea of any one's stretching their limbs in such a position as the fat boy's, almost made Rob's hair stand on end. "Tubby must have nerves of steel," he murmured, "or else not know the meaning of fear." Then he went on aloud: "For goodness' sake, don't move any more, Tubby. The slightest false move might send you off into space." "All right, I'll keep still," Tubby assured him, but in a free-and-easy tone. "Well, perhaps it's a good thing he isn't scared," thought Rob; "if he were, it would make the job of getting him up twice as difficult." For a long time he lay silent on the narrow ledge, so absorbed in the difficulties of the situation that he forgot everything. Even the recollection that there was a strong likelihood of the Indians pursuing them down the passage had entirely gone out of his mind--displaced by Tubby's accident. Suddenly the boy started up with a bound, which almost projected him over the ledge after Tubby. A hand had been placed on his shoulder. Before Rob could utter a sound another hand was placed over his mouth and he felt himself lifted from his feet. Peering down into his face, the startled boy could make out, in the faint starlight, half a dozen cruel countenances.