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ne, and Hamp agreed with him. A little later something more serious occurred. Three hungry wolves stole out of the forest and down to the ice. They evidently scented the carcass of the deer. They followed the little party persistently, and kept up a mournful howling. Now and then they circled near with swift leaps, only to bound back toward the shore again. "We must put a stop to this," said Jerry. "Wait a minute." He discarded his rifle for a shotgun, and, when the trio of scavengers next approached as close as they dared, he gave them both barrels. It was long-range shooting, but two of the brutes were slightly crippled. All three fled, yelping, to the forest, and disappeared. Darkness was now creeping rapidly on. Colder and colder came the bitter evening breeze. At times the great stretch of ice-bound lake cracked like a pistol-shot. The boys were anxious to reach their destination before twilight, and they altered their swinging stride to a jog-trot. At last they gained the jutting headland, and circled around its point. Here, on the shore of the lake, they found choice camping facilities. They picked on a shallow ravine that was comparatively open and ran back into the forest for thirty or forty yards. On three sides it was sheltered by pine and spruce trees, and had an open frontage on the lake. "This is just the thing to build our cabin against," said Hamp, indicating a weather-worn block of granite that was almost square in shape. "We're in a great neighborhood for hunting and fishing, too." "The locality is all right," replied Jerry, "but I don't think it's wise to build right in the trough of this ravine. A heavy storm would snow us up, and a thaw would wash us out into the lake." "No danger of a thaw," declared Hamp, as he blew on his numbed fingers, "and I don't believe we're going to have any big snowstorms, either. You know your father said there were indications of an open winter. Besides, it will take too long to clear a place for building on higher ground. Look how stout the timber is all around us." "I'm not anything of a woodsman," joined in Brick, "but this hollow looks like a mighty snug place to me." Jerry allowed himself to be persuaded. "All right," he said. "We'll take the chances. Pitch in, fellows." The sleds were unpacked, and the space in front of the rock was quickly cleared of snow, undergrowth, and loose stones. Armed with sharp axes, the boys felled and trimme
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