The boys walked for what seemed to them two hours more, and then
Thede, who was in advance, stumbled over a tree bole lying at the
foot of a gentle slope. He rose rubbing his elbow and turned the
flashlight toward the front.

"I know where we are now," he said. "We're about eight miles from
the cabin. This place here is called Bear Ridge, and it's about
the only collection of rocks and caverns that I know of in this
district."

"Can't we find a cavern to crawl into?" asked George, his teeth
chattering with the cold.

"If we find a cavern," advised Thede, "we're likely to find a
couple of bears packed away in it!"

"I don't care if there are a hundred bears!" grumbled George.
"I'll freeze to death if I stay out in this snow another minute!"

After a long and difficult climb the boys came to a ledge of rock
and crawled into a small opening revealed by the searchlight.

"The beds are all full tonight, I guess," George said shivering.
"I hear Bruin kicking about being disturbed."




CHAPTER V