Guns and Snowshoes; Or, the Winter Outing of the Young Hunters Part 30

"We'll go that way anyhow--if we can make it," said Whopper.

It was slow traveling, and they had to rest frequently, for the wind seemed to fairly take the breath out of their bodies. Once they came up to a clump of bushes and were half tempted to make a prolonged stop there. But Snap demurred very strongly.

"It won't do, fellows," he said. "The snow is piling up fast and the bushes will be snowed under in another hour or two. We have got to reach the timber somehow. It's our only chance of safety."

Again they struggled on, so out of breath and weak they could scarcely draw one snowshoe after the other. Giant fell down and had to be raised up.

"I--I am afraid I ca--can't go another step!" he blurted out. "I am as we--weak as a--a cat!"

"We'll help you," said Snap, kindly. "Come, Shep, you take one arm and I'll take the other. Whopper can go in front, to break the force of the wind for us."

At the end of ten minutes more all were ready to drop. They were numbed with the cold and their breath came in quick, short gasps. It looked as if they must give up and perish.

"Oh, if only we were back at camp!" sighed Whopper.

"Don't give up!" urged Snap. He stopped and gazed over his left shoulder. "Am I mistaken, or is that a tree yonder?"

"I'll soon see," answered Shep and turned in that direction. "Yes, it's a tree and the timber is back of it!" he cried in delight.

This announcement put renewed courage in the young hunters, and once again they struggled on against the fierce wind, which was now blowing little short of a hurricane. The trees came into sight dimly through the swirling whiteness, and a minute later they sank down under the overhanging boughs of a big spruce.

"Safe at last!" murmured Shep.

"Oh, how glad I am of it!" added Giant. "I--I thought we'd be lo--lost sure!"

"We must have a fire, first of all," said Snap. "My feet are half frozen already!"

"I brought some carbide along, so we can easily start a blaze," added Whopper. "But we've got to be careful in such a wind as this. Just listen!"

They listened, and it made them s.h.i.+ver to hear the shrieking of the wind as it went ploughing through the forest, often snapping off a bough here or a tree top there. The spruce they were under bent and swayed, but it was strong and healthy and it did not give way.

Leaving his companions for a few minutes, Snap did his best to look around the vicinity. He could see but little, but made out three big trees growing somewhat close together on the edge of the marshland. At one side of the trees was an irregular rock five or six feet in height.

"That will have to do," he told himself, and called for his companions to join him. But they did not hear, owing to the raging of the storm, and he had to go after them.

"We'll fix up some sort of shelter among the trees," he said. "And we can build a fire against that rock. Let us get to work at once, before it grows colder and the snow gets worse."

The brief respite had rested them, and while Whopper and Giant cut some wood and built a fire, Snap and Shep broke down some spruce branches and piled them up around the clump of trees. Then they kicked up the snow into something of a wall leading from the side of the rock to the nearest tree.

"There, now we can keep fairly warm if nothing else," said the leader of the Gun Club.

It was still very dark and the fire did little to dispel the gloom, the wind having a tendency to blow the smoke in several directions at once. But the fire kept them fairly warm and for that they were thankful.

"If this isn't a blizzard it is next door to it," remarked the doctor's son, as he gazed at the display of the elements. "And the worst of it is, there is no telling how long it is going to last."

"Will we be snowed in?" asked Whopper.

"It looks like it."

"And with nothing but a rabbit and two ducks!" cried Giant. "Boys, it doesn't look as if Christmas was going to be such a cheerful day after all."

"Never mind Christmas," put in Snap. "Let us be thankful if we are not s...o...b..und so completely that we starve to death!"

CHAPTER XXII

A REMARKABLE CHRISTMAS NIGHT

Night came on rapidly after that, and with the coming of utter darkness the fury of the elements appeared to increase. The wind shrieked and whistled through the timber and hummed in the tops of the spruces overhead. Occasionally they would hear a crash, as some mighty tree would be laid low, and they trembled for fear the storm would damage their shelter.

They were tremendously hungry and ate rather more of the lunch brought along than Snap thought right. One of the ducks was cleaned and broiled with care and half of the meat divided into four equal shares.

For drinking water they melted some snow, a little at a time, in a drinking cup.

After the meal there remained nothing to do but to mind the fire and go to sleep. They took turns at watching the blaze, each boy remaining on guard two hours.

All night long the storm raged and the snow came down as thickly as ever. As a consequence, when it began to grow a little brighter they found that they were completely snowed in. On all sides the spruces were nearly broken down with their weights of whiteness, and on the opposite side of the rock where the fire was built was a drift of snow eight to ten feet high. This gave them a little more shelter but cut off a good share of the outlook.

"Merry Christmas!" cried Snap, as he got up and stretched himself as well as he could under the low boughs.

"Merry Christmas!" cried all of the others, and then Whopper added: "But it isn't very Merry, is it?"

"I don't see that broiled fish, and stuffed turkey, and cake and pudding and candy and--" began Giant.

"Hold on, Giant, don't make us any more hungry than we are!"

interrupted the doctor's son. "We're here and we've got to make the best of it, so don't croak."

"Oh, I'm not croaking," answered the smaller member of the Gun Club.

"I shall be satisfied if we get back to camp alive with such a snow all around us."

"Giant, why didn't you hang up your stocking last night?" asked Whopper, jokingly, and this brought forth a general snicker, and then all the lads felt a trifle less blue.

Breakfast was certainly a slim affair, each person getting a small bite of duck, two crackers, a spoonful of cold beans Shep had brought along, and a drink of melted snow. Several gazed wistfully at the rabbit, but Snap shook his head at them.

"We've got to save that," he said. "You know that as well as I do."

"Don't you suppose there are some birds or squirrels or rabbits around here?" asked Shep.

"We can look--if the storm will let us."

Breakfast over, one after another of the young hunters went beyond the clump of spruces to look around. But the weather was so wild, and the snow so deep, all were glad to come back.

There was little of the holiday air in the gathering. All of the boys were sober, for they fully realized the peril of their situation.

Their food would not last long, and where were they to get more?

At noon they had little more than a rabbit lunch--something that made Whopper sigh as he thought of the big Christmas dinner he had thought to feast upon.