Part 39 (1/2)

The start was made by ten o'clock, Tom being warmly wrapped in blankets, and all the traps being piled on the drag in front and behind him. A rope had been tied fast in front and on this Wumble and d.i.c.k pulled, while Sam had hold of the drag itself, to pull and to steer.

It was still bitter cold and many times on the way those hauling the drag stopped, to make sure that Tom was comfortable and in no danger of getting his nose or his ears frostbitten. Fortunately the route was largely down hill, so pulling the long drag was not such a hards.h.i.+p as it otherwise might have been.

At noon they stopped in a small hollow, sheltered from the wind, and made themselves a hot pot of coffee, and ate a frugal lunch. Tom sat up for a few minutes and the others were glad to see that the journey had done him no harm, either physically or mentally.

By the middle of the afternoon it was snowing again and they had all they could do to keep to the trail. The old miner shook his head dubiously.

”Reckon as how we're up against it,” was his comment. ”If it gits much wuss we'll have to look fer another shelter, boys.”

The wind had let up during the middle of the day, but now it commenced to blow with a suddenness that was alarming. It sent the whirling snow into their faces with pitiless fury and almost blinded them, while they breathed with difficulty.

”Got to git out o' this, an' mighty quick too!” gasped Jack Wumble.

”Which way shall we turn, Jack?” questioned d.i.c.k. ”I can't see at all.”

”I think thar's a woods below--let's strike fer that, lad. It will mean shelter an' firewood, at least.”

They hurried on, pulling the long drag after them. They were in a valley and suddenly they came to a broad patch of ice and Sam went sprawling on his back. His brother helped him to arise, and onward they went once more, but with added caution.

”This must be a lake,” said d.i.c.k, as, after traveling for some time, they found the ice still under their feet. ”Or else a river.”

”Can it be safe?” asked Sam. ”Why, it wasn't frozen over four days ago!”

”We'll be careful,” cried Wumble. ”Even if it is hard enough, there may be airholes around.”

The situation seemed to grow steadily worse. The wind blew so hard that at times they were fairly carried along by it. The snow cut off the view from all sides, so they could not determine in what direction they were traveling.

”Here's something ahead!” cried Wumble presently. ”A hut--a miner's hut!”

”Let's get inside, just as quickly as we can,” returned Sam, his teeth chattering. ”I'm mo--most frozen stiff!”

The hut was on a small bank, evidently on the sh.o.r.e of the lake, or river, on which they had been traveling. It was closed up tightly, and a pounding on the door brought no response.

”n.o.buddy home, I reckon,” said Jack Wumble. ”Well, here goes to git in,” and he pushed on the door.

It was not locked and swung inward, revealing a single room, about twelve feet square and lit up by one small window. Opposite the door was a fireplace, partly filled with cold ashes. On a shelf and on a rude table rested some cooking utensils, and to one side of the hut was a bunk containing some pine tree boughs and several old blankets.

”h.e.l.lo!” cried d.i.c.k. ”Anybody in here?”

There was no answer, and a quick look around convinced them that n.o.body had been in the place for several days if not weeks. Yet on a shelf in a rude locker were a number of stores--beans, coffee, a side of bacon, and several other things.

”Let us start a fire, first thing, and get thawed out,” suggested Sam, and this was done, the boys finding plenty of wood piled up behind the hut. They had already brought Tom in from the drag and placed him in the bunk, and now they closed the door.

”In this awful blow, we'll have to watch that fire carefully,” warned Wumble. ”Ef we don't, we may burn down the shebang over our heads.”

The blaze soon warmed them all up and even Tom said he felt better.

The boys looked over the stores in the cabin with interest.

”What about touching these?” said d.i.c.k to the old miner. ”Have we any right to do it? Of course we'd pay for the things.”