by, their uneasiness grew upon them. They had expected,
ere this, to meet Brick coming back. They were alarmed, too, by the
threatening aspect of the weather.

Finally they reached the clearing by the stream. Here the short trail of
blood gave them a terrible fright. Their looks meant what their lips
were afraid to utter--the dread word "murder."

Then Jerry laughed.

"This is nonsense," he said. "It's nothing to be scared about, Hamp.
One of the party fell on the snow and scraped his nose. Look! here's
where the crust is dented in."

"That's so," replied Hamp, in a relieved tone. "Cracky! I was scared for
a minute."

"So was I," admitted Jerry. "They must be having a long, hard chase.
Still, they can't be much farther ahead."

"Let's walk faster," urged Hamp. "It's going to snow soon."

They turned to the right, barely glancing at the ledge of rocks and the
brawling stream. They left the clearing and plunged into the scrub and
timber in the direction of the lake.

They were moving too rapidly to notice that the imprint of but one pair
of snowshoes was ahead of them. As they neared the lake, they struck a
pitch of rising ground.

The boys dropped into single file. Hamp preceded, and Jerry followed
with both sleds.

"I can see a bit of the lake through the trees," said Hamp. "It's not
more than half a mile away. We ought to overtake the party between here
and the shore."

Just then he struck a slippery pitch of rock and snow, and began to feel
his way very cautiously. Six feet below was a fringe of bushes that
shut off further view.

Meanwhile Jerry had fallen a little behind. He suddenly observed how
slim and indistinct was the trail. He paused at once, and the sleds
backed up against his ankles.

He bent over and keenly scrutinized the impressions on the snow.

"Hold on, Hamp," he cried. "Something wrong here. I see the marks of
your snowshoes and of another pair. By cracky! we've blundered. There's
been only one man ahead of us."

"How can that be?" exclaimed Hamp. "We didn't see any marks branching
off."

He was startled by his companion's assertion. He tried to stop, but,
unluckily, one foot slipped. He came forcibly down on the snow-crust in a
sitting posture.

With a yell of dismay he shot down the slope and plunged through the
fringe of bushes. A brief glimpse showed what was below--a circular
depression of glistening snow screwing downward like a funnel, until it
ended in a jagged black h