Half an hour later, when Will, heavily wrapped, glanced in at the
tent preparatory to going out on his quiet search for the missing
chum, ho saw that the blankets were empty.

"The little scamps?" he chuckled. "They've beaten me to it!"

In the meantime, Tommy and Sandy were making their way through the
wilderness traveling in the narrow light provided by the electrics.
By this time the snow was quite deep, and the wind appeared to be
rising every minute.

"We never can get home in this storm if we once lose sight of the
campfire," Tommy said as the two huddled together in the lee of a
big tree.

"That's a fact!" Sandy admitted. "So I guess we'd better be poking
along. Which way is the fire?"

"Why, it ought to be right over there!" replied Tommy doubtfully.

"Over where?" demanded Sandy, with a note of alarm in his voice.

"Blessed if I know!" declared Tommy, sitting flat down in the snow.

The boys walked round and round the tree and made little excursions
in every direction without getting a single trace of the campfire.

"I guess we've gone and done it now!" Tommy grunted.

"Aw, we can find our way back all right enough!" Sandy declared.