"Glad I happened to think of that. I'll never ride out without a rope
again, even if it's up and down Main Street in Chillicothe."
Fetching the rawhide rope he skilfully cast it up and over the
pinnacle of rock nearest to him. It was now a comparatively easy
matter to climb by going hand over hand up the rope and bracing his
feet against the side of the rock at the same time.
Once having reached the point where the rope had been fastened, the
rest of the way was less rough.
The lad sat down to look about him, noting that the formation was a
peculiar one, and that the reddish shade of the rock disappeared when
one came into close contact with it.
"Why, it's just a plain, ordinary pile of stone," laughed Tad. "The
idea that there could be anything mysterious about it! I'll climb up
to the top and see if there is anything more interesting there."
There were frequent narrow crevices that the young explorer discovered
on the way up. These appeared to reach down to a considerable depth,
but having no weight to attach to the end of his rope he could not
sound the depth with any degree of certainty. One of these crevices
was large enough to admit his body.
The place fascinated him.
"I'm coming out here prepared to go down in that hole and investigate
it," he said to himself. "I'll bring the boys--no, I won't either.
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