den of the rest of that day. He
brought wood, kept the fire up, and propped Fred and Maurice up on
piles of hemlock branches. There were some small pieces of the hare
remaining, and he finally made the boys chew them, and swallow the
juice. It seemed to do them good; at any rate, the nausea did not
return. Then the Scotchman spoke.

"Look here," he said, "we've got to do it this very night--get back
into the cabin, I mean. We've gone almost too far now, and by another
day we'll be too weak to move."

"But how'll we do it, Peter?" asked Fred weakly.

"There's only one way. We'll wait till after midnight, when they'll be
asleep, and then burst in the door, aim our rifles at them, and get
hold of their guns before they can recover their wits."

"They'll have the door barricaded. We'll be shot down before we can
break in."

"I know it's a long chance, but we're living by a succession of
miracles as it is. It can't last, and I'd as soon be shot as frozen to
death. I'm most afraid of the dogs. They'll make an awful uproar, and
probably spring at us as soon as we get in."

As far as Fred was concerned, he felt ready for the attempt, or rather,
perhaps, that it made no difference what he did. Maurice also
assented, but their force seemed a pitifully small one with which to
oppose four able-bodied, well-armed men.

It was then late in the afternoon. Peter began to work energetically
at gathering wood enough to last until they should try their desperate
chance, and Fred and Maurice tried to help him. It had stopped snowing
and had cleared. The night promised to be intensely cold.

Suddenly, faint and far, but very distinct, the sound of a rifle-shot
resounded through the trees. They listened, and looked at one another.

"One of those ruffians has gone hunting," Maurice remarked.

"So he has," said Peter. "And see here," he added, with a suddenly
brightening face, "this gives us a chance. Let's ambush that fellow as
he comes in. We'll knock him down and stun him. That'll make one less
against us, and we'll have his rifle and cartridges. Perhaps he'll
have something to eat on him. Boys, it doubles our chances."

The plan did look promising. At any rate, it would, if successful,
give them a firearm. The shot must have been fired fully a mile away;
but they put on their snowshoes at once, and hastened in the direction
of the cabin.

The light was failing fast as they stopped about two hundred yard