Part 17 (1/2)

”They are gone!”

”Gone?” repeated Chet, and now Professor Jeffer and Barwell Dawson listened with interest.

”Yes, gone--I can't find them anywhere.” Andy rapidly went through every pocket in his clothing, and in the overcoat he had hung on a horn. ”Yes, they are gone,” he groaned. ”Oh, this is the worst luck yet!”

”But they must be somewhere around,” said Barwell Dawson. ”Have you any idea where you dropped them?”

”No, although it might have been when I took that tumble in the snow.”

”If you lost 'em there, we ought to go back for 'em right away,”

declared Chet. ”The wind is rising, and that will drift the snow over 'em.”

A vain search was made around the cabin and the shed, and then, tired as he was, Andy donned his overcoat and cap to go out. Chet did the same.

”Oh, you needn't mind, Chet,” said Andy.

”I just will mind, Andy. We are going to get those papers back,” was the brisk reply.

”Here, take a lantern,” said Professor Jeffer, and brought forth an acetylene lamp, similar to those used on bicycles. ”That ought to help you find the papers,” he added.

In a minute more the two lads had set off through the snow. As Chet had said, the wind was rising, and it often caught the snow up in a mad whirl and hurled it into their faces.

”Phew! this is not so pleasant,” panted Chet, when they paused to catch their breath, having covered about a quarter of the distance to where Andy had fallen. ”Takes the wind right out of a chap. But never mind, come on,” he continued, and started on once more.

The rays of the acetylene lamp lit up the way fairly well, and here and there they could see their former trail, although it was growing more indistinct every moment. The wind now whistled through the pines and spruces,--a sound as dismaying as it was lonely.

”Might have brought down some game, with the aid of this lamp,” said Chet, as they trudged forward on their snowshoes.

”I'm not looking for game just now.”

At last they reached what they thought was the spot where Andy had had the fall. So far they had seen no trace of the missing doc.u.ments. Now they gazed around, much crestfallen. The hollow was completely filled with the drifting snow, and a ridge had formed, wiping out the trail utterly.

”I am going to try digging,” said Andy. ”Wish I had brought a shovel along.”

The lamp was hung on the branch of a tree near by, and both youths set to work, shoving and kicking the snow to one side or another. Thus they worked, in something of a circle, for the best part of an hour. Not a trace of the papers could be seen anywhere.

”Maybe I lost them further back--where we found the moose,” said Andy.

”I'm going to look. But you needn't go with me if you don't care to, Chet.”

”I'll go where you go, Andy. I want to see you get those papers back.”

Again they moved forward, the wind and snow cutting each in the face, and sometimes almost blinding them. They had to rest twice before they reached the spot of Chet's thrilling adventure.

Again the search began, and it was kept up until both lads were wellnigh exhausted from stooping over and ”sifting” the snow. Andy straightened his back and gave a sigh.

”I guess it's no use,” he groaned. ”They are gone! I'll never see them again! And that claim is gone, too!”

”Oh, don't give up yet!” cried Chet, trying to cheer him up. ”If we can't locate them tonight, we'll do it in the morning when the sun s.h.i.+nes. They must be somewhere around. They made quite a package, with a rubber band around it, and such a package can't vanish completely.”