Up on the gallery they saw how the engine had been used to wind the cable on to the drum and then they saw the actual cable car - a big, round iron container, with two steps or ledges on the outside large enough for a man to stand upon. The whole was suspended by a rather complicated pulley block upon which were two short levers.

Tom climbed to the steps and reached up to the pulley block. "Reckon those are brakes," he said. "Looks as if you could ride over the valley on this thing holding on to those handles on the edge."

But Peter was not listening. She had squeezed past the iron car and was standing on the edge of the platform looking out of the opening over the Dingle.

"Just look here, Tom," she called. "I can see everything."

The car swayed and creaked on its chains as Tom jumped off and went over to her side. Together they knelt down and peered cautiously over the edge to see the tree tops far below them, and the side of the valley dropping almost sheer for a hundred feet. Peter drew back a little and gasped, "It's deep, isn't it? Look at the wires, Tom. You can see how they stretch right across... And look again... Do you see that little black dot in the cliff the other side? That's where the wires go in, and just below is where we found Mackie... Where is he, by the way?'

They looked round, realizing that they had forgotten the dog in the excitement of exploration, and then whistled for him. Peter was relieved when he gave an answering yelp from below.

"Of course, he can't climb the ladder," she said. "Can you see him through the floor, Tom? What's he doing?"

Tom peered through the iron grille of the platform.

"He's eating something down in the corner there," he said. "We'd better stop him. You know what a little scavenger he is. I'll fetch him."

He clattered down the ladder and then called excitedly: "I say, Peter, he's eating biscuits out of a paper bag. Someone's been here lately. I can see footsteps in the dust now round this boiler... and there's some oil been dropped here from just under the drum... I reckon this place is being used after all... And here's a bit of candle, too..."

But before he could say any more Peter called excitedly from over his head:

"Come quickly, Tom! David and the others are coming up the valley! He's got some men with him. It's the search party..."

Tom tucked Macbeth under his arm and climbed the ladder again to her side.