grim evidences of that terrible forest fire which had nearly cost the
saw mill robber and the Felps' crowd their lives. A few spots on the
lake were clear, but at other points the snow lay from a few inches to
a foot and a half deep.

They skated to the opposite shore and stopped near the shelter of some
pines and hemlocks. All were willing to rest, and a small campfire was
built, over which they made a pot of coffee. They had brought with
them some sandwiches and some cake, and these made up the brief
noonday meal.

"Here goes for a first shot!" cried Snap, leaping to his feet with a
part of a sandwich still in his mouth. He had discovered several
rabbits near some bushes up the lake shore. Catching up his shotgun he
took careful aim and blazed away.

"Two of them!" exclaimed Shep. "Good for you, Snap!"

Snap ran forward and picked up the game. They were plump and heavy and
he held them up with pride.

"We shan't starve just yet," remarked Giant. "We are sure to get
rabbits, and partridge and wild turkeys, and there must be plenty of
fish under this ice."

All of the party were anxious to reach the former camp, to see what it
looked like, so the noonday rest did not last long. Skirting one shore
of Lake Cameron, they came to the narrow waterway that connected it
with Firefly Lake. Here the water, which usually flowed swiftly
between the rocks, was frozen up in a lumpy fashion that made skating