a storm coming up."

"You're right about the storm, I'm afraid," answered the veteran hunter.
"I don't like the looks of the weather a bit. And it sure will be dark
soon. But we'll have a look at this sled," he went on. "Give me a hand
here, Tom and Dick," he called to the other drivers, who had left their
teams.

They managed to prop up the sled, so a better view could be had of the
forward runner. Then the extent of the damage was made plain. One whole
side had given way, and was useless. It could not even be patched up.

"Too bad!" declared the hunter. "Now, if it had only been the rear sled
it wouldn't worry me so.

"For then we could pile the stuff from the back sled into the others,
and go on, even if we were a bit crowded. But with the front sled
blocking this narrow road, I don't see how we are to go on."

"If we could only jump the two rear sleds over this broken one, it would
be all right," said Alice. "It's like one of those moving block puzzles,
where you try to get the squares in a certain order without lifting any
of them out."

"That's it," agreed Mr. Macksey. "But it's no easy matter to jump two
big sleds, and eight horses, over another sled and four horses. I've
played checkers, but never like that," he added.

"But we must do something," insisted Mr. Pertell. "I can't have my
company out like this all night. We must get on to Elk Lodge, somehow."

"Well, I don't see how you're going to do it," responded the hunter.
"You could walk, of course; but you couldn't take your baggage, and you
wouldn't like that."

"Walk? Never! I protest against that!" exclaimed Mr. Bunn.

"'He doth protest too much!'" quoted Paul, in a low voice. "Come on,
Ruth--Alice--shall we walk?"

"I'd like to do it--I'm getting cold standing here," cried Alice,
stamping her feet on the edge of the road. "Will you, Ruth?"

"I'm afraid we'd better not--at least until we talk to daddy, my dear,"
was the low-voiced answer. "Perhaps they can get the sled fixed."

But it did not seem so, for Mr. Macksey, with a puzzled look on his
face, was talking earnestly to the two drivers. The accident had
happened at a most unfortunate time and place.

"We can't even turn around and go back a different road, the way it is,"
said the hunter. "There isn't room to turn, and everybody knows you
can't back a pung very far before getting stuck."

"Then what are we to do?" asked Mr. Pertell.

The hunter did not answer for a minute. Then he