his way to the side that he had been facing, yet with no better
result than before.

There yet remained two sides to be investigated--the one he had
climbed up and the other that lay to the left of him. Tad chose the
latter as the most likely to give him the information he
sought. However, he found that the edge lay some distance away. The
table of rock was much wider than he had imagined, when he first
ascended to it.

The way was rough. Once the lad's foot slipped into a crevice. In
seeking to withdraw it he gave the ankle a wrench that caused him to
settle down on the rocks with a half moan of pain. His shoe had
become wedged in between the rocks so that he had difficulty in
withdrawing it at all, and the injured ankle gave him a great deal
of pain as he struggled to release himself.

"Guess I'll have to take off my shoe. Hope I haven't sprained my
ankle. I'll be in a fine mess if I have," he grumbled.

The ankle gave him considerable trouble; but he rubbed it all of ten
minutes, and he found that he could endure his shoe again. He was
full of curiosity as well as anxiety to learn the cause of the
smoke, which, by this time, seemed to be coming his way in greater
volume.

After having relaced the shoe and leggin, Tad started on again, this
time on all fours, not trusting himself to try to walk, feeling his
way ahead of him with his hands, which he considered the safer way
to do.