“Oh, yeth, we haven’t had breakfatht yet,” piped Tommy.

“Nor have you dried your clothes.  Every one of you except Hazel is wet to the skin.”

Jane had brought some dry sticks by the time the guide and Harriet returned.  Janus got more, realizing the condition of his party, and wishing to build up a fire that would dry their wet clothing.  The girls had no changes of clothing with them.  They would be obliged to continue to wear their wet dresses until these had dried.

A hot fire proved a welcome relief.  The girls gathered about it, turning frequently in order to give their clothing an opportunity to dry.  It was not long before the steam rose from their rapidly drying garments.  They laughed and joked over their condition.  Miss Elting was more serious.  She held a low-voiced conversation with Janus while he was getting the breakfast.  Janus insisted that he had not the faintest idea that he had an enemy.  At least he knew of no one who would commit the acts that had been committed since the party started out from Compton on their journey through the White Mountains.

The girls’ wet clothing was almost dry when they were called to breakfast.  This meal was late on this particular morning, for good and sufficient reason, but the girls did not complain about this.  What they did complain of was their bedraggled condition.  They laid their trouble on this occasion directly at the door of Tommy Thompson.  Tommy was undisturbed.  She expressed her pleasure, however, that her companions had also received a wetting, and uncharitably hoped they would fall in every time she did.

During breakfast they discussed their situation, finally deciding to push on as soon after the meal as possible.  The guide said they would feel dry and warm soon after starting on their way.  He thought they would be better off on the move than sitting about the fire.  Hazel had now fully recovered from the effects of her fall.  Harriet’s side still gave her pain, but she, too, felt that the best thing for her would be plenty of exercise.

That forenoon she insisted on carrying Hazel’s pack, and did more real work on the trail than any other girl of the party.  They were above the timber line, though there was little timber below it, the side of the mountain having been fire-swept long before that.  The only green to be seen immediately about them were the blue-berry bushes and similar mountain vegetation that flourished in the crevices of the rocks.

It was early in the afternoon when they emerged on the summit of the mountain and gazed off over its gray top, that, flanked by other domes of the Sandwich range, reminded one of the past ages and the fascinating legends of the Sokokis.  The summit was rough and rugged, though devoid of big boulders such as are usually to be found in similar locations.

“You are now three thousand five hundred feet in the air,” announced the guide, rather proudly.