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鈥淚t鈥檚 a landslide sure enough!鈥� yelled Jerry. Tinny, quickly recognizing the extent of the slide and calculating its probable direction, cried: 鈥淕et the horses over this way. And grab what stuff you can. Get back of that line of rocks. I think they鈥檒l keep the slide off!鈥� He pointed to a ridge of bare rock which extended up and down the mountain side. Like a jetty, or breakwater, it might fend off the landslide. 鈥淣ed and I will take the horses!鈥� cried Jerry. 鈥淵ou save what grub you can, Bob!鈥� This was giving the stout lad an occupation[181] nearest to his heart, but there was no joking in their thoughts at this moment. 鈥淚鈥檒l save our camp stuff!鈥� shouted Tinny, making a jump toward some rolls of bedding and tarpaulins on which they expected to sleep at night, for they carried no tents. Action was scarcely less quick than the words, and though there was a little trouble in releasing the horses and getting them to a place of comparative safety, it was accomplished. All this while the landslide was advancing nearer and nearer, and with increased force and volume. Back of the first line of rocks, bushes, and dirt was a great mass of earth, immense boulders, great trees, and a quantity of gravel and smaller stones. This was sweeping everything before it, breaking off giants of the forest with trunks three feet in diameter as if they were the long stems of churchwarden pipes. THE LANDSLIDE WAS ADVANCING NEARER AND NEARER. For a few seconds the boys and Mallison were so busy rushing their animals and belongings to the safe side that they did not notice the curious roar and rumble that filled the air. But when the horses had been tied beyond the line of rocks, which, Tinny thought, would mark the dividing line of the landslide, and when their food and camp stuff had been moved, the travelers had an opportunity to listen to the nerve-racking[182] noise that accompanied the shifting of the face of the mountain. The rumble and roar made a terrifying sound. It was not like thunder, though it was akin to it. Nor was it like the blast of the tempest, though, in a measure, it filled the air with that awful howling. The breaking of great trees, the crash and rumble of rocks splitting in twain, the concussion of those rocks on other boulders or against trees which they cracked wide open, splitting them from roots to crown, the rattle of gravel like the hail of shrapnel against steel shields鈥攁ll this served to fill the air with a terrible tumult. All the while the landslide was increasing in speed, volume, and force. It seemed that a great part of the mountain was going to slip down its side into the valley below. Fortunately, it was a desolate region, and not so much as a lone miner鈥檚 cabin was in the path of the devastating force. Cromley鈥檚 friends alone were in danger, but as they stood near the horses, which were trembling in terror, they had hopes that the slide might pass them by. The animals were very much frightened, but they seemed to prefer the nearness of their human companions rather than to try to bolt into the wilderness. So they did not break away. Now the landslide had reached its maximum,[183] and in one immense, irregularly shaped mass of rocks, trees, and earth was going down the mountain slope. The vanguard of comparatively small rocks, with a quantity of gravel and bushes, had passed on with merely a rattle. Then, close behind this, came thousands of tons of the very side of the mountain itself, sweeping before it every vestige of verdure and leaving in its wake but the bare side of the great hill. Fortunately for the campers, the landslide did just what Mallison guessed it would do, and as he hoped it would do鈥攊t did not extend to the side farther than to the line of great rocks deeply imbedded in the side of the mountain. 鈥淭hat alone saved us!鈥� whispered Tinny, pointing to the great rocky wall. Tinny鈥檚 whisper could be heard, for now that the landslide had passed on down into the valley, there was silence about the camping place. Yet it was no longer a complete camp, for so close had the great slide come that it had engulfed the fire. 鈥淎nd the coffee pot and our bacon, too!鈥� lamented Bob, when he saw what had happened. This had actually taken place. The coffee had been boiling on one side of the fire, which had been built in a primitive grate of stones, and the bacon was frying on the other side. There had[184] been so much to do that no one鈥攏ot even Bob鈥攈ad thought of saving the supper. 鈥淭hank goodness we鈥檝e got more grub and another coffee pot鈥攐r something that will do for one,鈥� remarked Bob. His companions did not make any joke about his first thought after their escape from danger having to do with eating. They were too thankful over their good fortune to think of anything else for the time being. In the gathering darkness after the dust caused by the landslide had blown away, they looked down into the valley. Part of it was made level and the floor of it was covered with the rocks and other d茅bris, splintered trees and shredded bushes. 鈥淲ell, it broke our trail,鈥� remarked Tinny, pointing to where the slide had cut squarely across the road they had taken to reach their present whereabouts. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 go back that way鈥攚e鈥檒l have to keep on!鈥� 鈥淎nd we want to keep on,鈥� said Jerry. 鈥淲e want to get Noddy and his gang and save Bill.鈥� 鈥淭hat鈥檚 right!鈥� chimed in Ned. 鈥淢aybe Noddy ran up against one of these things himself.鈥� 鈥淭hey鈥檙e common enough out here,鈥� said Tinny. 鈥淏ut this is the nearest that one ever came to me, and it was altogether too close for comfort.鈥� [185] 鈥淒o you think it鈥檚 likely to happen again?鈥� asked Jerry, as he spoke to his horse and patted the animal to soothe and quiet it. 鈥淚t might, but it isn鈥檛 very probable,鈥� was the reassuring answer. 鈥淲hat causes these landslides?鈥� asked Ned. 鈥淣o one knows鈥攁t least, I don鈥檛,鈥� Mallison replied. 鈥淰ery likely a large mass of earth and rocks gets loosened by rain storms, and is held in place by a single key-rock or tree. The pressure back of the rock or tree becomes too great, it breaks or moves, and down comes the thousands of tons of stuff, gathering more material as it travels, like a snowball, until it sweeps everything before it. We鈥檙e mighty lucky not to have been in its direct path.鈥� The boys well knew this. But as the old saying has it, 鈥渁 miss is as good as a mile,鈥� and when the first terror was over they regained their usual good spirits. The fire had been put out鈥攕wept away, in fact鈥攂ut it was an easy matter to kindle another, and they had brought with them enough utensils to use in place of the departed coffee pot and frying pan. None of their bedding had been lost. 鈥淪o we aren鈥檛 so badly off after all,鈥� remarked Jerry, as they sat about the cheerful blaze and ate. [186] 鈥淣o, indeed,鈥� agreed Mallison. 鈥淏ut we may have a hard time ahead of us.鈥� 鈥淲e鈥檙e used to hard times,鈥� chuckled Ned. 鈥淚t can鈥檛 be any harder than some things we鈥檝e been through before this.鈥� 鈥淣o,鈥� agreed Jerry thoughtfully, 鈥渋t can鈥檛.鈥� It did not take long to establish the simple camp. They got out their rolls of bedding, gathered wood enough to make a sudden blaze in the night in case one should be needed, saw that the horses were securely fastened, and then prepared to get some sleep. Because of the remote danger that another landslide might follow that first one, it was decided they would take turns in remaining on guard. Thus an alarm could be given by the wakeful one. 鈥淭hough, as a matter of fact, if a landslide should start above us and come down, we could hardly get to either side of it in time in the darkness,鈥� Tinny said. 鈥淏ut don鈥檛 worry, boys. I think we鈥檙e safe.鈥� In spite of this, however, the lads could not help worrying some, and when it was the turn of Ned, Jerry or Bob to remain awake for a two-hour stretch, each one strained ears and eyes to detect the first sound of danger. But the night passed quietly save for a distant rattle now and again of some falling rock that had been loosened by the slide of earth. [187] Morning came, with bright sunshine, and the spirits of all revived, especially after some hot coffee and flapjacks, which Bob essayed to make, and with success. 鈥淲ell, maybe we鈥檒l catch up with Noddy to-day,鈥� suggested Jerry, as once more they journeyed onward and away from the slide.