,
which had been hidden by clouds, emerged and shone with dazzling
splendor on the ice fields. It almost blinded the men.

As they ran on they heard a shout behind them. Turning, they saw
Washington and the professor, each with a gun, following. They waited
for the pair to come up.

"How far away is the place?" asked Mr. Henderson.

"We must be close to it now," said Bill. "Yes, there is the bear Andy
killed," pointing to where the dead animal was stretched on the ice.
"But where are the boys?"

"And where is Andy?" asked Amos Henderson.

Not knowing what had become of the hunter and the boys, the rescue party
was puzzled. They looked on every side but saw no traces. The ground was
so uneven that the professor suggested the hunter and boys might be
lying wounded in a hollow, and screened from sight.

"We must scatter and look for them," he said.

Meanwhile the three in the ice cave had been looking about them. They
saw what had brought them into the place. It was a big cavern hollowed
out by nature in the frozen crystals, and leading to it was a smooth
inclined plane of ice.

"How are we going to get out?" asked Jack, after all three had taken a
survey of the cavern.

"Can't we walk up the place where we slid down?" asked Mark.

Jack was already busy trying to climb up the slippery place. It was much
harder than it seemed. The incline was a glare of ice, and Jack's first
attempt sent him sliding back with considerable force to the cavern
floor.

"There's only one way to do it," said Andy. "You must take my hunting
knife and cut steps in the slide. Then you will have some support for
your feet."

The boys saw this was good advice and followed it. But the ice was
frozen almost as hard as stone, and after chipping and cutting away for
half an hour they only had three niches.

"At this rate we will have to stay here several days," said the old
hunter, and there came an anxious note in his voice. "I wish we could
send word to some of the others."

"Hark! What was that?" asked Jack suddenly.

All listened. There came a faint report, like that of a gun.

"It's the professor, Washington, and the two farmers searching for us!"
exclaimed Mark. "They are firing their rifles."

"That's it! They can't find us because we are down in this hole," said
Andy. "If I only had a cartridge now I could give an answer."

There came another report. This time there was no doubt that signal guns
were being fired, for the s