there?" he asked.

There was no answer.

"Holfax; is that you?" he asked, a great hope coming into his heart.

Still there was no answer.

"Dad!" cried Jerry. "Some one is undoing the thongs about my arms."

"And mine also!" added Fred.

A moment later Mr. Baxter felt himself free from the stake at his back.
He struggled to his knees, thrust out his arms to make a space in the
snow about him, and tried to see who it was who had released him. There
was no one in sight.

CHAPTER XXV

THE RESCUE--CONCLUSION

For a moment Mr. Baxter did not know what to think. That he had been
released was certain; but how? That the same agency was also at work for
the boys was evident, for a moment later they, too, were able to get up
on their knees. Their hands were free, but their feet were still tied.
However, it was an easy matter to slash with knives which they all
carried the thongs that were wound around their ankles.

"Who did it? Who aided us?" asked Fred.

"I don't know," replied Jerry.

"Quiet!" cautioned his father. "We have a chance to escape."

At that moment there was a movement in the snow at his feet, and a
black, pointed muzzle was thrust up.

"The dogs!" exclaimed Mr. Baxter. "It was the dogs that gnawed through
the bonds and released us. I see how it happened. The thongs were
freshly cut from some hide, and the half-starved dogs smelled them.
They burrowed under the snow until they could gnaw them, and thus they
released us. I thought at first it was Holfax and his men."

"So did I," spoke Fred. "But what had we better do now?"

"We must first get something to eat," said Mr. Baxter. "Wait until our
blood is in a little better circulation, and we will steal down to the
camp and see if we can't get something without attracting attention."

By stamping around on the hummock and whipping their arms about them the
prisoners succeeded in getting some warmth into their benumbed bodies.
To their surprise the noise they made did not attract any notice from
the Indians or Callack. As it happened, the Alaskans were all so wearied
with their day's labor that they slept sounder than usual.

Cautiously the captives stole down from the hummock toward one of the
tents near which their own sleds had been placed. They hoped to find
some food, for they were nearly famished.

As they advanced they detected a movement among the dogs, only a few of
which had burrowed under the snow to get at the fresh thongs,