Free The Stone Idol by Franklin W. Dixon Page B

while the Hardys held their breath. Then the two treads still on firm snow took hold and rolled the Sno-Cat to a point where gravity took over and dragged the vehicle onto its third tread. The fourth still hung over the crevasse, but Frank was now able to drive back and let it regain its normal position.
    He mopped his forehead with a handkerchief. “We’re driving an obstacle course!” he groaned. “This is very dangerous!”
    â€œI know,” Joe said grimly. “Well, we’re close enough to walk to the top of the hill. Let’s hope we can spot Outpost I from there.”
    He took the heavy Antarctic clothing from the compartment behind them. They donned thick leather boots, rough trousers, parkas, and fur gloves. Pulling goggles over their eyes, they emerged from the Sno-Cat into a high wind.
    They roped themselves together. Using alpenstocks—wooden staffs with metal tips—to help them keep their footing, they set out for the hill with Frank in the lead.
    At every step, they tested the snow with their alpenstocks to make sure it was strong enough to support them. Skirting past the crevasse into which they had nearly fallen, they tramped along under a sky the dismal color of lead. The sun was barely discernible over their heads, and the only sound they could hear was the wind and their own footsteps.
    Reaching the bottom of the hill, the Hardys began to climb it step by step, sometimes over snow and ice, sometimes over the frozen earth and rock of the Antarctic. They gasped in the frigid air.
    About halfway up, they came to a rocky ledge, where they stopped for a rest, discussing their predicament.
    â€œUnless we took the wrong turn, Outpost I has to be in sight from the top of the hill!” Frank declared. “Even if we bypassed it in the storm, we can’t have missed it by much.”
    â€œRight,” Joe said. He made sure the rope connecting them was securely tied before they resumed their climb. It was a difficult ascent because they had to feel with their alpenstocks for places where they could get safe toeholds. The cold wind blowing in their faces made them lean into it in order to maintain their balance.
    As they rounded a rocky wall, Frank stepped onto an icy cliff. At the same time, a violent gust made him stagger to one side. He slipped and skidded along the ice toward the side of the cliff, dragging Joe after him!
    Then, finding nothing to break his momentum, he went right over the edge!
    Suddenly Joe came to a bone-crunching halt as his boot soles slammed against an outcropping of rock protruding from the ice. The rope around his waist tightened as it stopped Frank’s fall down the face of the cliff!

    â€œFrank, hang on!” Joe yelled.
    â€œI’ve got my foot on a rock sticking out of the side,” Frank called back. “I can climb up if you help me.”
    â€œWill do!”
    Joe yanked on the rope with all his might. He played it in, hand over hand, so Frank could brace his feet against the side of the cliff and work his way back to the ledge. Then both sat down gasping for breath.
    â€œIt’s good we’re tied together, or I’d been at the bottom of the cliff,” Frank muttered.
    Joe peered over the edge. “Well, our alpenstocks are down there. I can see them lying in the snow.”
    â€œThey’ll stay there, Joe. I’m not about to go and get them!”
    â€œNeither am I. Let’s make tracks up the hill, okay?”
    Getting to their feet, they again climbed toward the top. They moved more slowly and carefully than before because they no longer had their alpenstocks with which to feel for the safest path upward. Finally the slant of the hill became less steep, and they struggled to the summit.
    Planting their feet firmly and bracing themselves against the wind, the Hardys surveyed the terrain all around them. They saw an expanse of ice and snow extending to the horizon in every direction except to