As he fell down again,
the ice, now all ready to yawn for its victim, slowly sunk down with the
weight placed upon it, and Paul was almost submerged before Meredith
could drag him over to the piece upon which he clung.

At the same time, Mike ran the birch tree over the ice and advised the
boys to cling to it for all they were worth.

Paul had all he could do to cling fast to the trunk, for the suction of
the channel waters under his stomach and legs was awful!

After some struggling, however, Mike and Don dragged on their end until
the boys were pulled over out of the danger zone of the channel.

During this interval, Lavinia sat spell-bound with fear, but Babs was
too busy poking twigs in the embers to notice her sister's white face.

As Mike drew the two boys over the ice, Lavinia heaved a mighty sigh and
started to cry softly.

"Him big hole! Mike know river oop and down. Mike lil' Injun, so big,
Mike take canoe oop and down," explained the trapper, holding his hand
down to his knees to show the boys how long he had been acquainted with
the treacherous channel.

Paul was soaked and Meredith partially wet, so the boys ran over to the
raft where a hot fire was soon blazing to dry off their outer clothing.
Mike made the older children sit close together facing the fire, while
he took the dry coats of Don, Lavinia and Dot, and spread them over the
backs of the five, then he hung the wet coats upon a sapling near the
heat to dry.

In half an hour a shout came from the shore and two more sledges were
emptied of logs and waiting for the children to go back. In a few
moments, they were all sliding and running across the ice and clambered
up the bank to get aboard the sleighs.

Dot was eager to tell all about the accident and rescue, but Mike shook
his head, and Lavinia placed her hand over her sister's mouth.

The horses were tired after a long day's hauling and moved slowly back
to the forests where the men were still cutting timber.

From there, Mike hurried all of his party along the road toward camp and
told the girls not to speak of the incident then.

Meredith and Paul were taken to Cookee's cabin and made to sit near the
fire while their clothes were hung up to dry. Lavinia went to their
bunks and brought clean underclothes to Mike, and so no one knew of it
until several days after.

Don and Dot strolled over to the office while the others were in the
kitchen, and sat down by the table to have a game o