of the road, can you?"

"Not yet, but it must be somewhere in the neighborhood, for we went
upward in the cave."

They had come out at a point where there was a small table-land, which
the wind of the night before had swept almost clear of snow. Below was
the valley and above them a patch of firs.

"That's the forest," said Dave, pointing upward. "The road runs through
there. I think the place where we took the tumble is over yonder."

"Let us call to the others again."

Once more they raised their voices, and from a distance came an
answering call from Granbury Lapham.

"Where is he?" queried Roger. "I can't see anything through this snow."

"Neither can I."

They called again, and at last made out that the Englishman was above
them. Then they said they were going to try to get to him and commenced
the struggle. It was a hard task, and took not only their strength but
also their breath. They could not see the man, and it was only by
continual calling they finally located him.

"We all took a great tumble, don't you know!" cried Granbury Lapham.
"Were you hurt?"

"Not enough to mention," answered Dave. "Where is the sleigh driver?"

"He tried to stop the horses, I think. They ran away after the sleigh
turned over. I wanted to help and the first thing I knew I went down,
too."

"Do you know where the road is?" asked Roger. "Not far above us. But I
slipped back several times trying to get to it."

Now was no time to compare notes, and all three started to ascend the
mountain side to where they thought the road must be located. As they
could not get up the icy slopes they pushed on to where there was a
stunted growth of pines. Here, by clinging to one tree after another,
they at last reached a point where trudging through the snow became
comparatively easy.

"I got a pretty bad scare when I came down the mountain side," said
Granbury Lapham, when they stopped to rest. "A bear came along not more
than fifty feet in front of me."

"A bear!" cried the two boys, simultaneously.

"Yes, and a mighty big fellow, too, I can tell you."

"What did you do?"

"I felt for my pistol, but it was gone--I must have dropped it in the
snow when I tumbled. At first I thought the beast would attack me, but
he gave one look and then jumped away in the snow--and that's the last I
saw or heard of him."

Both of the boys felt instinctively for their weapons and were glad to
learn that they were safe.

"I don't want to se