now. We watched
it for a while and then as there was nothing doing we came back, and
that's the whole of the story."

"What's the next move?" Upton asked the question with an eagerness he
could not conceal.

"A little daylight surprise party," replied Pat with a grin.

"Are we in on it?" demanded the three boys in chorus.

"That depends," replied Pat. "Alec and I have been talking it over, and
if you'll agree to obey orders and keep under cover maybe we'll take
you along. Witnesses may come in handy. But you've got to agree to do
just as you're told."

"We will!" chorused the three joyously.

"Our plan is to surround the cabin before daylight. The fact that those
fellows haven't pulled out already indicates that they are planning to
lie low. But they'll be up and out early to spy on us. We've got to be
in hiding before they are up, and that means that we must start in half
an hour. You fellows are to remain in hiding and leave Alec and me to
handle those chaps, and you're not to show yourselves unless we signal
you to."

"How many of them are there?" asked Upton.

"Two, we think," replied Pat. "The cabin isn't big enough for more. Now
get busy and stow away a good meal, because there is no knowing when
you'll get another."

A hasty meal of bacon and cold corn bread, with hot chocolate, was
speedily disposed of, and they were ready to start. At Pat's suggestion
the boys had put on extra clothing to protect them should they be
compelled to remain inactive for some time. With the exception of
Sparrer each carried a rifle. In single file, Alec in the lead and Pat
in the rear, they threaded their way through the forest. Never will the
three city boys forget the uncanny strangeness of that tramp through the
moonlit wilderness. The silence of the great frozen waste, oppressive
even in the light of day, was doubly so now. Their errand and the
thought of what might happen at the end of their journey combined to
stimulate already overexcited imaginations to a point where nothing
seemed real. They felt as if moving in a dream. It was as if by
enchantment they had been translated from their commonplace selves into
the heroes of one of their favorite books of adventure. They had the
feeling that at any moment they might return to normal conditions and
find it all a figment of the imagination.

Down the Hollow past the trail by which they had entered it Alec led the
way, and out at the western end. Then for a couple of m