ntime, Uncle Barney stirred around
outside and managed to find some firewood which was fairly dry. Then a
blaze was started in the rude fireplace, the door was shut, and a
blanket was nailed up over the broken-out window.

"Now this is something like!" remarked Jack, when the cabin began to
grow warm. The boys had unpacked the contents of the bobsled and brought
forth a candle, which was lighted and placed in a rude holder on the
wall.

Now that they were safe from the storm, all of the Rovers felt in better
humor. Uncle Barney showed them how they could obtain water by melting
some snow and ice, and soon they had enough to make a pot of chocolate
and another pot of coffee. In the meantime, the old lumberman, assisted
by Jack, opened up a box of sardines fried some bacon, and also warmed
up a can of green corn which had been among the stores. They had no
bread, so they used up one of the boxes of soda crackers which they had
purchased.

"It's too bad we haven't got some game to cook," observed Randy.

"Let's be thankful that we've got some sort of a roof over our heads,
and that we can rest," put in Fred. He had not yet gotten over the
struggle to get through the snow.

With nothing else to do, the boys and the old lumberman took their time
over the evening meal, and never had anything tasted better than did
this first supper on Snowshoe Island to the Rovers.

Outside the wind was blowing as strongly as ever, and the snow still
came down steadily. To make sure that they would not suffer from the
cold, all of the lads went out with Uncle Barney and brought in a large
supply of firewood. Then they built up a good blaze, around which they
sat in a semicircle on the sled and the boxes brought along, and on a
rude bench of which the little cabin boasted.

"When I first came to Snowshoe Island, twelve years ago, I thought I
would locate at this end," remarked Barney Stevenson during the course
of the conversation. "But after staying here a short while I concluded
that it was nicer at the upper end, so I went there."

"Did you buy the island as far back as that?" queried Jack.

"Oh, no, lad. In those days I only leased the island. You see, it
belonged to an old lady named Martinson. She had a son who drifted out
to California, and then went to Alaska. When the old lady died, Luke
Martinson came back home, and then he came to see me. He wanted to get
rid of all his property around here so he could go back to Alaska, a